In an apparent breach of his official prohibition, the defrocked David Tudor also conducted an interment of ashes at a consecrated churchyard only a fortnight ago, on Dec 7.
On Monday, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell assured the public that Tudor, who admitted to sexually abusing two girls at a Church tribunal in October, was finally “prohibited from ministry for life”.
The Archbishop said: “I want victims and survivors to know that everything was done to understand, assess and manage the risk.”
He said he “fully” welcomed the outcome of the disciplinary tribunal on Oct 29, which saw the priest receive the harshest punishment available – removal from office and probition for life – for the “sexual assault on children”.
The Archbishop was responding to a BBC report, which revealed that he had previously helped Tudor, a man he knew was not allowed with children and had paid compensation to an abuse victim, to stay in the priesthood.
He claimed there were no legal options available to him at the time, an assertion disputed by the Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Rev Helen-Ann Hartley.
The reporting led to renewed calls for the Archbishop of York to step down ahead of assuming his new role as de facto leader of the Anglican Church on Jan 6.
The Telegraph can today disclose that in the weeks after a tribunal banned Tudor from the priesthood, he officiated a funeral service at Basildon Crematorium chapel in Dipsea cemetery, Essex.
And only a fortnight ago, on Dec 7, he led an interment of ashes in the churchyard of the nineteenth-century St Katherine’s Church, in Canvey Island, Essex.
The Diocese of Chelmsford, where he previously served, confirmed to The Telegraph Tudor “is strictly prohibited from conducting funerals in any capacity or location under the terms of his lifetime prohibition from ministry.”
Canvey Island Parish is understood to have been informed by funeral directors S Stibbard and Sons via email that David Tudor would oversee an interment of ashes at St Katherine’s churchyard.
However, parish clergy were not copied in, leaving the email unread by a bishop until Thursday [Dec 18].
David McClenaghan, partner at Bolt Burdon and Kemp, told The Telegraph that he and the three Tudor victims he represents are “astounded by the news that Tudor has continued to officiate ceremonies despite his sacking from the Church of England”.
“I am not sure what is most shocking; the arrogance and disregard shown by Tudor or the Church of England’s failure to ensure he no longer practices.
“What is clear however, is that despite Cottrell’s assertion that he and the Church have done all they can in the Tudor case, they have clearly continued to fail and this is a further example of the Church letting survivors down,” he said.
When the Archbishop became Bishop of Chelmsford in 2010, Tudor was already under a safeguarding agreement barring him from being alone with children. Yet months later, Tudor became an area dean overseeing 12 parishes.
As the most senior member of clergy in the diocese, he was briefed on Tudor’s history during his first week in office, including criminal trials in 1988, a Church ban in 1989 for sexual misconduct, and his 2005 suspension following allegations of indecent assault.
But Tudor remained in ministry until 2019, when a fresh complaint led to his suspension and eventual prohibition from ministry.
One woman abused by Tudor as a child, who received £10,000 in compensation in 2012, told the BBC that she felt like the Archbishop of York “has spat in my face”. “He should leave the Church,” she said.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Chelmsford confirmed that they were “aware of reports” that Tudor had been conducting ceremonies after the ban, stressing that “no clergy or church leaders were aware of or involved in the internment” in December.
They added: “It is a cause of considerable frustration that the Church of England has no legal powers to prevent either funeral directors or local crematoria allowing suspended or prohibited Church of England clergy to officiate at local crematoria funerals as a family friend, or in any capacity.”
They said that Chelmsford Diocese took every step to notify funeral directors of Tudor’s prohibition, including S Stibbard and Sons, who told The Telegraph they organised two ceremonies despite having been warned not to do this.
A diocesan spokesman added that the local safeguarding team had “remained in contact with the relevant statutory authorities, including about the possibility of David Tudor conducting a funeral at local crematoria”.
S Stibbard and Sons Ltd said in a statement: “Contrary to popular belief, any individual, be they a minister of religion, Celebrant, family member or friend of the family may lead a Funeral Service on behalf of a family if requested to do so, except in a church, where a licensed minister must lead the service.”
They added that funeral directors “are not able to regulate private arrangements made between a bereaved family and private individuals who may be involved in a funeral service”.
A spokesman for the Archbishop of York said: “Archbishop Stephen Cottrell was distressed to learn that Mr. Tudor, after being removed from his role and barred from exercising ministry as a priest, has acted in this appalling manner.”