Written by Muvija M
LONDON (Reuters) – The Church of England's second-most senior cleric, Stephen Cottrell, will call in a Christmas sermon on Wednesday for repentance and change within an institution plagued by child abuse cover-up scandals.
This year's celebrations were overshadowed by the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby due to a cover-up and accusations of further safeguarding failures by his second-in-command Cottrell, the Archbishop of York.
In addition to its 16,000 churches in England, the Church, which has its roots in the Roman Empire, is also the mother church of 85 million Anglicans in more than 165 countries.
“Right now, this Christmas, the Church of God itself needs to come to the manger and be stripped of its finery and kneel in repentance and worship. And change,” Cottrell will say at York Minster in northern England, according to excerpts shared by his office. .
Welby, who resigned from his post in November after a report that he failed to take adequate action to stop sex offender John Smith, will not deliver the main Christmas sermon at historic Canterbury Cathedral.
“At the heart of the Christmas story is a weak child; a weak child whom the wrath of (King) Herod's wrath will attempt to destroy, because like any tyrant he cannot tolerate a rival,” Cottrell will say.
“The Church of England – the Church of England that I love and serve – needs to look at this vulnerable child, need this release of strength to show the power of love, because we see God in this vulnerable child.”
Welby is scheduled to complete his official duties by January 6, and the process of selecting his successor is expected to take up to six months.
Cottrell, who will effectively run the church until then, has also faced calls to resign after a BBC report said he had allowed Pastor David Tudor to keep his job despite knowing the church had banned him from being alone with children and that he had paid compensation to one of the children. Victim of sexual assault.
Cotterill apologized that he had not been able to act sooner while Bishop of Chelmsford, saying that the situation he had inherited was “terrible and intolerable” and that he had suspended Tudor at the first opportunity.
The British public, which had become increasingly less religious and church-going, was harshly critical.
David Greenwood, a lawyer who specializes in abuse claims, said in a statement that the revelations “shocked confidence in the church’s ability to protect its followers and uphold its duty of care.”
