Why has Welby not resigned?

[MrsSkylerWhite]

Along with the at least 6 bishops and providence knows however many others within the organisation who were aware of this evil man’s conduct.

Listening to him tie himself in knots, trying to distance/excuse his inaction is despicable.

Further to this - to me, Welby making a non-anonymous donation to a Children’s charity has a whiff of 'buying indulgences' , or a monetary alternative to genuine remorse and repentance. Maybe that's how this charity sees it and won't be complicit in assuaging his conscience?

I think they did well to refuse dirty money, and with the Childrens Society being effectively a CofE creation it wouldn't surprise me to learn of problems within this too

As for Makin, it's worth remembering that he too was appointed by the church to carry out his inquiry, so while they pretend he was "independent" this isn't something I'd want to take on trust - especially given the questions around the delays to his report

Cotterill needs to go now. There’s no room for people who have enabled abusers

He's making radio 4 news headlines. Good.

@AlertCat , oddly I do consider myself a Christian, but definitely not overtly religious. All that is going on with the church puts me off it massively.

I had an education with a strong religious ethos and was a very active member of a high church choir/had a musical education through the church until I was 18.

I work in York twice a week and go to evensong once or twice a month because it feels like a ‘pause’ in my life. I love the music, choir, building and history, but I have very little time for the preaching and politics.

I can’t believe that Cottrell is hanging on tbh. The COFE needs a massive clear out.

Don’t you find it ironic that it’s a woman bishop who is waving the flag for change? There’s a Times article that says the BoN isn’t entering the Bishop’s robing room in the HOL because the Christians at the top of of the COFE are behaving in a way that is anything but Christian. I reckon a female Bishop has a lot to put up with.

Of course their presence in the HOL is another whole debate.

I think they are all as bad as each other. None of them have any sense of personal responsibility, none of them regards child abuse as a major problem. They all simply want to protect their egos and their wealth and their fine robes.

They are, every one of them, rotten to the core. None of them has an ounce of common humanity. No-one with any decency would even consider joining either the CoE or the Catholic Church.

So now they face the issue of finding a leader who hasn't been involved in or aware of child abuse, and they can't.

I'm sure there must be some who see all this for the horror it is, @Meadowfinch, but given that the CofE's main interest clearly lies in protecting itself I doubt any of them are to be found in its higher reaches ... and if that's the case it'll be hard to find anyone with whom the issue isn't going to continue, not even if they pick a woman

Fortunate, then, that having faith doesn't have to mean involvement with any of the established churches

I think it's high time that failure to act on reports of abuse was made an offence.

If I failed to raise a safeguarding alert when I suspected that a client of mine was an abuser, it would be a disciplinary matter and I would quite probably be fired. If I failed to identify a potential safeguarding issue, it would be a capability matter and I would probably be put on a performance management plan.

I see Cottrell is still in post, after a particularly arrogant response yesterday. Hopefully he will do the right thing and resign before he takes charge of the COFE in the New Year.

BBC article.

He should be forced out by KC and all religious influence in Parliament and Huse of Lords removed permanently.

Couldn't agree more @Wibble128 . He needs to go. I can't believe the arrogance of the man.

We've got tickets for the Festival of Nine Lessons in York tomorrow. It has become part of our Christmas, now DC are older. We spend Xmas eve afternoon in York (as it is fairly quiet by then), service at the Minster, a few drinks and dinner out followed by a taxi home.

Dinner/drinks/taxi booked two months ago. Tickets reserved when they were released.

It is sticking in my throat a bit tbh which is a shame as the music/minster is magical at Christmas.

It might be difficult for Charles to exercise any authority when it comes to paedophile enablers, given his own record in this area Wibble128 - risky, too, if church leaders possess more information than the rest of us

In other news I see George Carey's also resigned; somehow I'd missed that, though it shouldn't be a surprise

At this rate they won't have many "leaders" left ...