Bishop of Newcastle calls for Archbishop of York to resign over failings in sex abuse case

The Bishop of Newcastle has said it is “impossible” for Stephen Cottrell to remain Archbishop of York and him to lead the Church of England after revelations emerged about his handling of a sex abuse case.

Mr Cottrell is due to take on many of the soon-to-step-down Archbishop of Canterbury’s official functions temporarily from January 6, when Justin Welby quits over failures in the handling of a separate sex abuse case in the Church.

But Mr Cottrell’s position itself has been called into question after a BBC investigation which revealed that when he was Bishop of Chelmsford, he allowed priest David Tudor stay in post in the diocese despite knowing Tudor had both been barred by the Church from being alone with children and paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.

Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, has called for Mr Cottrell to step aside and said that the new revelations show that safeguarding is still a problem for the Church of England. Bishop Helen-Ann was the most senior cleric to call for Justin Welby’s resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury and has become a leading voice for victims of abuse in the Church.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ve got a situation where one archbishop has resigned over a safeguarding failure and we now have the remaining archbishop who has a very serious matter that calls into question his ability to lead on the urgent change that is required in safeguarding, both operationally and culturally, in the Church of England.

“So I think my personal view is that the evidence before us makes it impossible for Stephen Cottrell to be that person in which we have confidence and trust to drive the change that is needed.” She added: “He will also be, for a period of time at least, responsible for being the figurehead of the whole Church of England and I think you can’t do that role with any credibility or moral authority”.

During the BBC interview, Bishop Helen-Ann said there was “still a strong element” of a boys’ club within the Church of England bishops.

She added: “I think I would have had a robust conversation with safeguarding advice in the room about how to find a way in order to deal with this situation because the priest, you know, if they’ve been banned from working with children, then more information has come to light that they’ve paid an alleged victim £10,000, that should raise serious questions that require urgent investigation.”

Last month, Bishop Helen-Ann criticised both Mr Welby and Mr Cottrell for trying to unduly influence her in calling for the re-instatement of a former senior bishop. She had banned the former Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, from preaching in the Newcastle diocese because of his rejection of a report on child sex abuse allegations concerning a former priest.

Mr Welby and Mr Cottrell asked her to re-consider the decision to ban Mr Sentamu from having a Permission to Officiate. Bishop Helen-Ann said their letter showed a lack of understanding by the two Archbishops about abuse within the Church of England.

The Archbishop of York apologised he was “not able” to act sooner in the case of David Tudor. Mr Cottrell said: “I am deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier, but that was the situation I inherited. It is extremely disappointing that this story is being reported as if it was an abuser being ignored or even protected.

“Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. And to present it this way only re-traumatises already hurt people. The situation with David Tudor was an awful situation to live with and to manage and has meant many people suffering as a result.

“I want victims and survivors to know that everything was done to understand, assess and manage the risk. I also want them to know that I fully welcome the outcome of the Tribunal in October 2024.”