Rowan Williams says issues raised by Occupy protesters are ‘very much on the table’ as he pays tribute to dean of St Paul’s
The archbishop of Canterbury has broken his silence over the crisis at St Paul’s following the resignation of the cathedral’s dean, the Right Rev Graeme Knowles..
Rowan Williams said the departure of Knowles – which followed last week’s resignation of the canon chancellor, Giles Fraser – was “very sad news”.
Knowles announced his decision during a press conference at the Chapter House on Monday afternoon, saying his position had become “untenable” due to the row over the Occupy the London Stock Exchange camp, which prompted the cathedral to close its doors to the public for the first time since the second world war. Legal proceedings have also begun to remove the hundreds of people camped around the cathedral.
Williams said: “The events of the last couple of weeks have shown very clearly how decisions made in good faith by good people under unusual pressure can have utterly unforeseen and unwelcome consequences, and the clergy of St Paul’s deserve our understanding in these circumstances.”
The archbishop said Knowles had been a “very distinguished” dean who had “done a great deal to strengthen the pastoral and intellectual life of the cathedral”.
Knowles’s exit from St Paul’s is the third resignation in less than a week. Giles Fraser left last Thursday, saying he could not stand by while the church sanctioned the use of force. A chaplain at St Paul’s, Fraser Dyer, also resigned last week.
Williams concluded his statement by acknowledging the importance of the issue raised by protesters. “The urgent larger issues raised by the protesters at St Paul’s remain very much on the table and we need – as a church and as society as a whole – to work to make sure that they are properly addressed.”