Petition for Archbishop of York to resign reaches 30,000 signatures

Stephen Cottrell’s position has come into question after a BBC investigation found he had, while Bishop of Chelmsford, let priest David Tudor stay in post in the diocese despite knowing Tudor had both been barred by the Church from being alone with children.

Archbishop Cottrell described the situation as “horrible and intolerable” and said “it was not possible to remove David Tudor from office until such time as fresh complaints were made."

“I am deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier, but that was the situation I inherited,” he said in a statement released earlier this week.

But calls for his resignation have been led by the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, who has said it is “impossible” to remain as a church leader.

An outspoken critic of the Church of England leadership, the Bishop was also among senior voices who called for Justin Welby’s resignation over separate safeguarding failures before he bowed to pressure last month.

Stephen Cottrell is due to take on the official duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury on January 7 next year while a successor to Mr Welby is appointed.

He is understood to be aware of the petition, which is being hosted on website change.org

Its creator, Dougie Brown, wrote: “Cottrell remains in power and now is about to be elevated to an appointment which includes even greater personal status, power, influence and renown - the antithesis of what the Church promotes as its ideals and certainly the diametrical opposite of the what the abuse victims are suffering.