Statements from bishops
News reports
Church Times Archbishop of Canterbury announces resignation
The Guardian Justin Welby says he will step down as archbishop of Canterbury
BBC Live News Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns over Church abuse scandal
The Telegraph Live Archbishop of Canterbury resigns
The Tablet Archishop of Canterbury resigns over abuse scandal
Independent Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury after ‘failures’ over Church of England sex abuser
Other comment
Gavin Drake The Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation won’t make the Church of England a safer place
Stephen Bates The Guardian Justin Welby: why archbishop chosen for his managerial skills had to go
So, three ‘senior colleagues’ seen to be washing their hands/ preparing their pitch for the ‘new dispensation’ accompanied by ‘thoughts and prayers’. Who now has yesterday’s man’s back, without a knife between the shoulder blades? Et tu Brute? Not me Guv. A fresh expression of ‘sad to see you go, my friend, but …’
It disgusts me. I hope none of them snakes their way into consideration for his job. At least two out of the three have very short memories of their own culpability in serious safeguarding related matters. We need a thorough clear out, and these three would certainly be on my list as two publicly culpable bishops and a third who I am reliably informed pulls an awful lot of strings behind the scenes.
Gosh, bishops who couldn’t say a word between Thursday and Tuesday suddenly recover the power of speech. Praise be!
I posted here when there were only three statements from bishops here- those from ++York, +Leeds and +London; more have followed There are now three times as many, and maybe more to come. If I read correctly, none yet ‘admits’ to having been one of the ‘senior colleagues’ consulted as the advice was given to ‘hang in there’ and to not resign. Where are the reputation managers- how many of the statements have their seal of approval? There are varying degrees of thanks offered for the service of the archbishop. What of those bishops yet to publish- where do they… Read more »
I am aghast at statements from various Bishops now indicating their concern. Why did none of them have courage to follow Bishop Helen-Ann’s call? Look at Newcastle Diocese for ABC&Y ‘coercive’ letter.
When Archbishop Stephen Cottrell was Bishop of Chelmsford, local vicar John Parker protested about the “charity” ‘Mermaids’ doing presentations in Church of England primary schools. Cottrell told Parker ‘he could leave the Church of England’. Cottrell denied saying this but thirty clergy there confirmed Parker’s words. Now ‘Mermaids’ is under investigation for promoting breast-binders and puberty-blockers to children.
I’ll offer a thought. Often when an institution is very puzzled, troubled or divided some individuals within it will descend into a wrecking ‘let’s burn it all down’ mentality. I see that theme running through a great many posts on social media at the moment and from all sides of the church. Sometimes people with diametrically opposing views will band together in this demolition phase. What each one unconsciously believes, of course, is that it will be their own vision of the future that will rise phoenix-like from the ashes to cleanse, heal and revive the church. From here it… Read more »
Gavin Drake is very much to the point, & he particularly skewers the responses by ABY & the lead bishop for safeguarding. ABC undoubtedly misread the situation after publication of Makin & thus missed opportunity to go with grace. However as Drake says: “The Church of England does not need a scapegoat resignation. It needs wholesale reform. Justin Welby’s resignation should not be used as a fig leaf to hide the real continuing re-abuse of victims that regularly takes place in the Church.”
Gavin’s article is very much needed. I suspect we differ on whether JW hd to go for this reason. But, I think we agree the big danger is that now there will be a “ok all fixed now” attitude. One could very easily argue the lead bishop for safeguarding should have shown more leadership in getting the report commissioned earlier and in many other areas, and so is just as guilty. There are few of us who are squeaky clean on safeguarding in terms of getting it right first time every time, and amongst bishops (and other clergy) I think… Read more »
This only has meaning if others equally implicated in the Makin report also fall on their swords. Justin’s position was untenable but he was not alone.
Then I hope there is a true period of reflection and rapprochement as I do genuinely fear what comes next at this stage.
We need a culture where it doesn’t take a resignation for bishops to say exactly what they really think. I think that’s why I’m feeling somewhat nauseous reading all these bishops’ statements now. Structurally, having so many diocesan “petty kingdoms” doesn’t help.