THE Archbishop of York has defended his record on safeguarding, after he was called on this week to resign over his handling of a case in which a priest in his former diocese was accused of child sexual abuse.
On Monday morning, the BBC released online on BBC Sounds a File on 4 investigation (to be broadcast on Radio 4 Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning) of the actions taken against David Tudor, who was Team Rector of Canvey Island, in Chelmsford diocese, when Archbishop Cottrell was the diocesan bishop.
In 1989, Mr Tudor was banned for ministry for five years for sexual misconduct, but returned to ministry in the diocese of Southwark in 1993.
He was suspended again in 2005 while police investigated further allegations, but no charges ensued, and he returned to ministry. From 2008, however, he was subject to church safeguarding restrictions that prevented his being alone with a child and entering schools in Essex.
Mr Tudor was arrested again in 2019, at which point he was suspended by Archbishop Cottrell. The police investigation concluded without the bringing of any charge (News, 19 August 2022). In October, however, Mr Tudor (then Canon) was prohibited from ministry for life (News, 15 November).
In a statement, Archbishop Cottrell said that, until 2019, “there were no legal grounds to take alternative action” — a situation that, he said, was “horrible and intolerable — most of all for the survivors”.
He said that he had suspended Mr Tudor “at the first opportunity”. “It was not possible to remove David Tudor from office until such time as fresh complaints were made, which happened when a victim bravely spoke to the police. Once this happened in 2019, I acted immediately.
“I suspended David Tudor from all ministry pending the investigation and subsequent tribunal hearing in which he was removed from office and prohibited from ministry for life,” Archbishop Cottrell said.
He criticised any implication in news coverage that no action had been taken against Mr Tudor, or that this was a case of “an abuser being ignored of even protected”.
“Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. And to present it this way only re-traumatises already hurt people,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, said that Archbishop Cottrell should have done more to remove Mr Tudor. She called on the Archbishop to resign, saying that it was “impossible” to have confidence in him to drive change in safeguarding.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today on Monday morning, Dr Hartley suggested that, were she in Archbishop Cottrell’s shoes, she would have found a way to remove Mr Tudor, even if it had meant being sued for unfair dismissal.
“Surely that’s a risk worth taking, because it’s morally and ethically the right thing to do to keep people safe,” she said.
Dr Hartley said that the handling of Mr Tudor’s case meant that Archbishop Cottrell did not have the “credibility or moral authority” to act as sole Primate when the Archbishop of Canterbury steps down (News, 5 December).
The case “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”, she said.
In a statement, a Church House spokesperson said that Mr Tudor had committed “appalling abuse”, and praised the courage of survivors coming forward.
The BBC, the spokesperson said, had revealed “a catalogue of past safeguarding decisions, that allowed someone who was considered a risk in the 1980s to return to ministry in the 1990s. This should never have happened.”