Updated 3:30pm: Supporters of the Dean of Napier Cathedral are calling for forgiveness after he was dumped by the Anglican Church for adultery.

Michael Godfrey has been stood down and banned from any priest duties for breaching church laws.

Revered Godfrey claims he confessed to having an affair in 1991 with an 18 year old woman in Australia, however the church denies he ever admitted to it.

Talkback caller Rachel described herself as a close friend of the Dean and told Kerre McIvor and Mark Dye he is being very up-front and honest about it.

"Surely the principles of forgiveness care and compassion re what should be operating here."

She also said some of the Anglican Church congregation in Napier are upset they had no say in the axing of the Dean of Napier Cathedral.

"As far as I am aware the congregation was not considered in this matter, the decision was made by the bishop and that was it."

A statement was issued today by the Diocese of Waiapu, which said the "historic matter of behaviour" had related to church law and was not expected of a priest in the Anglican church.

Bishop Andrew Hedge had advised the church that the issue was not related to the diocese of Waiapu.

When contacted by Hawke's Bay Today, Reverend Godfrey said he had two affairs, 25 years ago, "in a terrible week in my life and following a serious sexual assault on me, and when married to my first wife".

"I am not proud of that, and acknowledge that this fell well short of the standards of integrity I expect [of] myself, let alone the church's expectations of a cleft person," he said.

"In the years that followed I made full disclosure not only to my first wife when confronted with my betrayal, but with the most appropriate authorities available to me by the standards and understanding of the time."

He said Bishop Hedge had "read these events through a prism very different to my own, and in dismissing me he has done what he thinks is right for the future of the church".

"I have a different opinion as to how a community of grace should work, but it is he, not I, who has that call. I will, therefore, take time out to consider my options for the future, and hope that my serious mistake 25 years ago may finally be laid to rest."

He said the liaisons had been with consenting adults, not as was originally alleged by church authorities in recent months, as predatory or with a minor.

The now 56-year-old replaced former dean Helen Jacobi, who held the position for nine years before leaving for studies overseas in February 2013.

He had formerly been based in the Northern Territory of Australia and was archdeacon of Southern Rural Darwin, rector of the Parish of the Good Shepherd in Fred's Pass and chaplain at Kormilda College and Anglican secondary school in Darwin.

When appointed in 2013, he told Hawke's Bay Today he relished the challenge to "pick up the reins" from Dean Jacobi. He described himself as a "knockabout sort of a fellow" when it came to becoming engaged with the community and the varied roles he had taken up on his way to, and during, his clerical career.

He grew up on the Kapiti Coast and attended Wanganui Collegiate. He later studied for a Bachelor of Arts in English and religious studies at Massey University.

Among his credentials he had been a broadcasting cadet for Radio New Zealand, a specialist broadcaster in Adelaide and an auxiliary firefighter for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, which he was also chaplain to.

He would now not hold the office or perform any function of a priest "for a length of time yet to be determined".