Archbishop apologises for handling of sex abuse case

The church of England’s second-most-senior bishop, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, has apologised for not acting sooner in the case of sexual abuse carried out by a Church of England priest.

- ATHENA STAVROU

Mr Cottrell said he was “deeply sorry” as he faced growing calls to resign over his handling of the case of David Tudor, who was banned from ministry for life after admitting to what the Church described as serious sexual abuse involving two girls aged 15 and 16.

The archbishop said he had “acted immediately” within the authority he had, and that it had not been possible to remove Mr Tudor from office until fresh complaints were made against him.

It is the latest incident facing the Church and comes as Mr Cottrell is due to take on many of the duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby – who will officially step down in January over failures in the handling of a separate sexual abuse case involving the Church.

Calls for Mr Cottrell’s own resignation have mounted following reports that during his time as the Bishop of Chelmsford, he let Mr Tudor stay in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been barred by the Church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.