The Archbishop of York has promised change in the Church of England after months of intense public scrutiny over safeguarding failures.
Archbishop Stephen Cottrell admitted on day one of the February General Synod, that “mistakes have been made” and that there has been a loss of public trust and confidence in the Church as a result.
“And I am more sorry about this than I can say. I know mistakes have been made. I know that I have made mistakes. But I am determined to do what I can with the time given to me to work with others … to lead the change we all know we need,” he said.
Archbishop Cottrell made the comments in his presidential address to Synod, the Church’s parliamentary body, which will spend much of this week discussing safeguarding.
The presidential address is normally delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but this office is currently vacant after Justin Welby resigned over the Makin Review’s damning findings about safeguarding failings in the Church of England. Leadership of the Church has been taken over by the Archbishop of York in the interim until Welby’s successor is appointed.
Cottrell has been facing his own calls to resign after he allowed former priest David Tudor to remain in post for nine years while he was Bishop of Chelmsford, despite knowing that Tudor had paid compensation to a woman who claimed he abused her when she was a child. Cottrell has expressed “regret” about his handling of the case and repeatedly insisted that he acted as soon as he was legally able to.
The Archbishop of York was only able to proceed with the presidential address after he survived a vote that would have prevented him from making the speech.
The vote was called for by lay member Sam Margrave who suggested it was wrong to give Cottrell a platform “when many across parishes and communities and even here [at Synod] believe that this office should be vacant and our national leadership is causing harm by refusing to step aside”. He said he would have preferred to see the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, deliver the address instead. The vote was defeated by 239 votes against, with 73 in favour and 43 abstentions.
Addressing Synod, Archbishop Cottrell said the Church of England was experiencing “difficult and challenging times”, and that he was committed to change.
“I want to share with you how deeply I believe in and love the Church of England, and I want to tell you about the change that I believe we must make, as well as my part in that during this coming year,” he said.
“However, I am deeply, deeply mindful of the feelings of anguish, anger, sadness, and regret present in this chamber—not least among victims and survivors of abuse and those who valiantly support them, but also among women in our Church who are still victims of discrimination, unwanted touch, and, at times, even sexual assault.”
In a break with convention, he paused the presidential address to allow for a time of “penitence and silence”.
Ahead of Synod’s opening on Monday, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, called for Cottrell to step aside, saying he was the “wrong person” to be leading the Church of England at this time.
“I do not think that it’s appropriate for the Archbishop of York to be in post, and certainly to be leading change that the Church needs at this time,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She added, “To allow Tudor to remain in post, I do find abhorrent.”
Andrew Graystone, a spokesperson for abuse survivors in the Church of England, made similar comments to the PA news agency: “Many of the leaders of the Church of England are still woefully unaware of what abuse is, and what it does to victims. It is no longer credible for the Archbishop to say ‘We made this mess, but we are the only people who can fix it’.
“No-one wants another hand-wringing apology, no-one wants another ‘lessons learned’ review, no-one wants another reminder of how hard it is to be a bishop.
“We don’t want any more words at all. Instead, we want radical humility from the Archbishop downwards.”
