Diocese of Easton bishop to conclude duties a year early with new retirement date
[Episcopal News Service] Easton Bishop Santosh Marray plans to conclude his official duties as bishop of the the Maryland diocese a year earlier than previously announced, according to a revision of his retirement plans that was announced Feb. 11.
Marray initially said last November that he planned to retire in fall 2026, setting in motion the process for calling his successor. In the latest update, he now says he will serve until Oct. 31 of this year, after which he plans to take a scheduled one-month vacation followed by a two-month sabbatical. His official retirement date will be Feb. 2, 2026.
“This decision was not made lightly but was discerned in the knowledge that God’s great story continues to unfold in my life and that of the diocese,” Marray said.
The diocese, in releasing Marray’s announcement, noted that it comes “with the full support of Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe,” who joined a diocesan leadership meeting by Zoom “to commend the bishop for his prayerful and measured approach and to endorse the bishop’s decision.”
The Diocese of Easton serves communities on the eastern end of Maryland. Marray was elected bishop in 2016. At that time, he was serving as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Alabama, after previously serving as bishop of Seychelles, Province of the Indian Ocean, from 2005-2008.
In July 2023, Marray was the subject of a disciplinary complaint alleging inappropriate behavior, according to information posted in May 2024 to The Episcopal Church’s website. Few details have been released publicly about the allegations, other that “multiple complainants” made allegations of “inappropriate public statements and behavior” by Marray. A separate complaint was filed in February 2024 by a single complainant alleging “inappropriate public statements and misrepresentations.”
Under the church’s Title IV disciplinary canons, a three-member reference panel referred the matters to a canonical process known as conciliation, in which Marray and the complainants were to work with an appointed conciliator to reconcile their differences.
On Jan. 21, 2025. the reference panel issued determinations concluding both matters with pastoral responses. No other information was provided about the cases’ resolution.
