Bishop brands Archbishop of York’s behaviour ‘abhorrent’ ahead of Synod opening

A bishop has said the Archbishop of York is “the wrong person” to be leading the Church of England, as he prepares to address a major gathering in place of Justin Welby who quit over safeguarding failures.

Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley, who has previously called for the Church’s current temporary leader Stephen Cottrell to resign, said it is inappropriate for him to be in the role and to be “leading change that the Church needs at this time”.

Mr Cottrell, as Archbishop of York, is due to address the Church of England’s General Synod – also known as its parliament – in central London on Monday as it opens for the first of five days of debate and various votes on issues including safeguarding.

Mr Cottrell, who took over most of Mr Welby’s responsibilities when he resigned as archbishop of Canterbury, has so far resisted calls to quit, previously saying he would “do what I can” to bring about independent scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church.

Mr Cottrell has been under pressure in recent months, accused of not acting quickly enough in his then-role as bishop of Chelmsford, over priest David Tudor, who was allowed to remain in post despite having been barred by the Church from being alone with children and having paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.

Separately, Mr Cottrell has also “categorically rejected” allegations that he bullied members of a committee to secure John Perumbalath’s appointment as Bishop of Liverpool.

Mr Perumbalath resigned as bishop last month following media coverage of sexual assault and harassment allegations against him, which he denies.

Mr Cottrell told the Times newspaper last week that he believes “many people, both within the Church and outside the Church, are disgusted by what they read and we would be very foolish if we didn’t take account of that”.

Ahead of Synod opening, Ms Hartley repeated her criticism of Mr Cottrell.

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “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 described a comment reported to have been made by the archbishop about Mr Tudor as “the Rolls Royce of priests” as a “quite abhorrent” thing to say.

She added: “I think he (Mr Cottrell) is the wrong person. I think to be in that position of leadership, you have to talk the talk and walk the walk, and you can’t have one without the other. And I think for him to have allowed that to be the case, to allow Tudor to remain in post, I do find abhorrent.”

Mr Cottrell is said to have no recollection of making the Rolls Royce comment, and has previously insisted he had inherited a “horrible and intolerable” situation, and “acted immediately” when fresh complaints were made about the priest in 2019, adding he had “no legal grounds” to suspend him before then.

Ms Hartley said she still feels like a lone voice in the public discussion of the leadership of the Church, noting that a colleague was reported as having described her as the “bishop of negativity”.

Meanwhile, a reverend and Synod member for 15 years said this week’s meeting is a “hugely significant” moment for the Church.

Ian Paul, who was one of the people behind a petition last year calling on Mr Welby to resign, told the PA news agency: “There’s never been anything like this in our lifetime, because the Church is in an unprecedented crisis.”

An advocate for abuse survivors has called on Mr Cottrell and other senior leaders in the Church to show “radical humility”, as the handling of abuse cases once again comes under the spotlight during debate this week.

Ahead of Mr Cottrell’s address, Andrew Graystone said that “another hand-wringing apology” will not do.

He told PA: “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.

“The sign of that will be immediate and costly action to repair the generations of lives that have been broken by abusive clergy and inadequate Church leaders.”

There will also be a debate on Monday on the Makin Review, a damning report that set out a series of failings around Christian camp leader and serial abuser John Smyth.

The report, published in November, led to the eventual resignation of Mr Welby, having concluded that Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally reported him to police five years before his death.

Synod members will have the chance to speak about the Makin report and “ask those in leadership roles across the Church of England to redouble work to implement best safeguarding practice in line with national policies and guidance”.

A debate on a new way to handle safeguarding will take place on Tuesday.

Two proposals will be presented and voted on after reviews in recent years by the former chairwoman of the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) Professor Alexis Jay and barrister Sarah Wilkinson.

One would see all safeguarding officers currently working in dioceses, cathedrals and the national Church transferred to work for a new independent organisation.

The other would see most national staff move to a new outside non-Church body, but other diocesan and cathedral officers remain with their current Church employers.

Lead safeguarding bishop Joanne Grenfell has said there is a recognition in the Church of the “deep and lasting impact of abuse”.