The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is to temporarily take over the leadership of the Anglican Church following the resignation of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
The reason for Welby's resignation was that he was implicated in an investigation which revealed that Welby and the Anglican Church had failed to inform the police about known physical and sexual abuses that had taken place mainly during the 1970s and 80s. Welby admitted to the mistakes.
On Monday, similar accusations were also directed against Cottrell by his episcopal colleague in Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley. Cottrell failed to act in a case involving a priest who was allowed to continue his service despite being banned from being alone with minors, according to Hartley. Cottrell defends himself by saying that the named priest was stripped of his office when new accusations emerged – and that he could not act earlier due to legal reasons.
