Monday, February 03, 2025

Archbishop of York: I won’t quit over abuse crisis. I’ll bring change

The Archbishop of York has rejected calls to resign over the Church of ­England’s abuse crisis, insisting he is ­“determined to play [his] part in making change happen” after a bishop quit over sexual assault allegations.

His comments came as the Charity Commission made an unprecedented intervention in the church’s internal ­affairs. 

The Times understands the watchdog is writing to all bishops demanding to know whether church rules are preventing them from fulfilling their legal duty to protect people from abuse.

The move was dubbed a “wake-up call” by the Most Rev Stephen ­Cottrell, who conceded that the church needs outside help. 

Cottrell has temporarily assumed most of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s duties after the Right Rev Justin Welby stepped down over his handling of the safeguarding issue.

Cottrell has himself faced calls to quit over how he dealt with abuse allegations. He has faced questions over his role leading up to the appointment in 2022 and resignation last week of the Right Rev John Perumbalath as Bishop of Liverpool.

Perumbalath announced his early retirement over allegations of sexual assault and harassment that were made in 2023. He has strongly denied the claims, noting that a church ­investigation found “no ongoing safeguarding concerns” and a police inquiry took no further action over the assault complaint.

The Times understands that some members of the Crown Nominations Commission felt Cottrell used his status as an archbishop to pressure fellow commission members into appointing Perumbulath in 2022.

Cottrell said he was “very aware of the power dynamics” of being an archbishop on the committee but said his role as its chairman was “to enable other voices to be heard”.

He said: “I really do strongly refute the suggestion that anything inappropriate happened.” Cottrell said no allegations of wrongdoing had been made by that point in time and that Perumbalath passed a safeguarding assessment ­during the recruitment process.

The Charity Commission will ask all bishops if there are any “structural, ­procedural or constitutional arrangements under ecclesiastical law that … conflict with, or prevent you and your co-trustees from fulfilling, your safeguarding duties as charity trustees”.

It will ask them to respond after a General Synod meeting next week, which will debate policy reforms.

Cottrell said: “That’s a bit of a wake-up call, but … I welcome the scrutiny from the Charity Commission.”

The watchdog has also met Cottrell. “They were very robust,” he said. “And I was personally very clear in the ­meeting to say, ‘Would you please help us? You’ve got experience from other bodies’. Often, someone from ­outside sees things you don’t see ­yourself.”

Asked if he would resign, either now or after the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury, expected this autumn, he conceded that “I have made mistakes” but said: “I’ve had to live with the constraints and inadequacies of our systems.” 

He said he planned to continue as Archbishop of York until the retirement age of 70 in 2028. 

Cottrell said of potential reform: “I’m determined to play my part in making this change happen … We need it for the victims and survivors, but it’s in all our best interests.