Charlie Bell: It’s hard to know what to say. It just seems to be yet another in a litany of just appalling, appalling stories coming out of our church. And when is this going to end? I’m sad. I’m shocked. I feel deeply, deeply sorry on behalf of the church. And frankly, I just feel ashamed. I just don’t understand how this can keep happening time and time again.
Cathy Newman: And yet you heard from Bishop Rose there, she says processes were followed. What do you make of that?
Charlie Bell: If processes were followed and yet Channel 4 is now bringing this forward and we’re now hearing about it as a matter of concern, clearly, those processes are not fit for purpose and we keep hearing there’s going to be yet more reviews and this is going to happen and that’s going to happen, and we keep being told by the church there’s no more to come out. There clearly is, there’s clearly more to come out. And those of us who are just trying to get on with the job of being priests are pretty fed up, to be honest, with the fact that the central bodies in our church seem to be determined not to get this right.
Cathy Newman: So you feel let down by the archbishop himself? Do you think he should quit?
Charlie Bell: One thing I do agree with Bishop Rose, is calling for resignations is not always the most helpful thing. But on the other hand, I really don’t see how the Archbishop of York now will have the confidence of the church. He’s called to lead us in a time where we’re already facing a failure of confidence in leadership. I really, really struggle to see how this is now recoverable from and frankly, I really don’t think it should be about personalities. It should be about forming a church that has the confidence of those who have faced abuse, both historically, but we’re seeing increasingly in the contemporary church.
“I think we’re in crisis. I think we’ve been in crisis for some time.”
– Reverend Dr Charlie Bell
Cathy Newman: So both the Bishop of Liverpool and the Archbishop of York, in your view, should consider their positions tonight?
Charlie Bell: To be honest, I’m not clear that there’s been any proper action that’s been taken about these allegations. I don’t know, because we don’t know any of these things. All we ever do is find out about them on the news. And that feels to me not to be the way that the church should be running itself. So for me, I think at the very least, there needs to be a very clear, outlined programme that shows us either that process has been followed or indeed people need to step back whilst the appropriate process is put in place. For those of us who get on with the job day after day after day, and we’re just finding out about it in the same way that people watching your programme are.
Cathy Newman: And what’s been put forward to me by sort of senior people within the church is that the archbishop can’t resign because it would literally collapse the church. How deep do you think the crisis in the church is tonight?
Charlie Bell: I think we’re in crisis. I think we’ve been in crisis for some time. We’ve been an anxious church for a long period of time. Worries about numbers and all the rest of it. But this abuse scandal just keeps on going, just keeps on going. And I don’t have very much belief that it will stop. And so I don’t know why people who are watching your programme would think it’s going to stop. We need leadership, and leadership means sometimes taking responsibility and sometimes it means, frankly, stepping back if there’s no longer confidence. It’s not about blame. It’s actually about having someone who can lead us through this process, or indeed a house of bishops who can lead us through this process, and retain the confidence not only of the clergy, not only of the people that come through our doors, but of those who have survived abuse and indeed of the general public.
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