The Church of England, which in November was shaken by the resignation of its leader over a case of sexual abuse of minors, is going through a new crisis after new revelations that came to light this Monday about his successor in office, the archbishop of york.
The events revealed by the ‘BBC’ date back to 2010, when Stephen Cottrelltoday number 2 of the institution, was bishop of Chelmsford, in the southeast of England. He is accused of having kept a priest in office, David Tudorwho had been prohibited by the Church from being alone with children after several cases of sexual assault.
Cottrell said this Monday that he deeply regretted not having been able to take action sooner, but defended his actions. “I suspended David Tudor from his position at the first opportunity I had, when a new victim came forward to the Police in 2019,” he said.
Tudor was expelled from the ministry two months agoafter admitting to having had sexual relations with two girls, one of them 15 years old, reports the British media.
In total, at least seven women they claim to have been attacked sexually by this priest when they were children. According to the ‘BBC’, one of them received “six-figure” compensation from the institution in 2019, and others filed a civil complaint.
Tudor served for the Church of England for more than 46 yearsin London and in the east of the country, climbing positions in the institution thanks to his sermons considered charismatic.
“The lack of action in this case completely undermines the credibility” of the Archbishop of York, said the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley. “How can we have the moral and ethical authority to run an institution in such conditions?” he stressed.
Calls for Archbishop Cottrell’s resignation are a new blow to the Church of England, questioned for covering up physical and sexual assaults to more than a hundred children committed over decades by a lawyer linked to the institution. This case led to the resignation of the Church’s most senior dignitary, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
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