In his Christmas Day sermon in York Minster, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell addressed – somewhat tangentially – the ongoing safeguarding crisis in the national church institutions.

Quoting Eliza Doolittle, he said: “Words, words, words! I’m so sick of words! I get words all day through, first from him, now from you… Don’t talk of stars burning above; If you’re in love, show me!”

(Oh, the irony of quoting “Do Little” at a time such as this!)

He went on: “Right now, this Christmas, God’s Church itself needs to come again to the manger and strip off her finery and kneel in penitence and adoration. And be changed.”

And he concluded his very brief sermon with these words: “Don’t just talk about justice, don’t just talk about joy, don’t just talk about service, don’t just talk about love. Show me.”

Victims and survivors of church-related abuse, and those who speak and advocate for them, are all well aware of Stephen Cottrell’s fine words. Over the years he has used many fine words to talk about safeguarding. But we have rarely, if ever, seen any fine action.

We can say the final words of his Christmas sermon back to him: “Don’t just talk about justice, don’t just talk about joy, don’t just talk about service, don’t just talk about love. Show us.”

And in case you think this is just an opportunistic attack on Stephen Cottrell, I have today republished two posts that I originally published on this blog in August 2021, with the tag “Fine Words”.

I called the first one “Walk the Talk”. It was extracted from Cottrell’s speech to the General Synod in a debate about the IICSA report.  On 25 November 2020, Cottrell said: “I realise now I was ordained into a Church that when it came to safeguarding was concerned, first of all, to protect its own reputation; secondly, to limit damage; and, thirdly, most shamefully, to ignore abuse and its consequences. Over the last 30 years or so, I have seen the Church change and I have been part of that change in different ways.”

Victims, survivors and advocates have seen no change from the central Church of England structures. That same desire to protect its own reputation remains – as can be seen this month by Cottrell’s original statement about the David Tudor case, which was then found to be more lies after a BBC investigation found he had voluntarily renewed Tudor’s licence as area dean.

I called the second one “Lead by example”. It was a statement about a previous safeguarding failure, and he had issued the statement on 29 June 2020, in the period after he had been named as the Archbishop of York, but before he took up his post.#

In it, he said: “it is absolutely essential that I am open and transparent about the need for the whole of our church to be scrupulously honest with each other about any failings in safeguarding.

“In the past, the Church of England has been too quick to protect its own reputation and slow to admit its failings. This must change. Those in public office should be subject to scrutiny.”

And he concluded: “I want to go on the record about what has happened in order to demonstrate a new spirit of openness and transparency over how we ensure that the Church is as safe as it can be, that survivors are listened to and dealt with honestly, and perpetrators brought to justice.”

Why oh why didn’t he listen to his own advice when he was preparing his response to BBC Radio 4’s File on Four expose of the David Tudor case?

Why didn’t he demonstrate that “new spirit of openness and transparency”?

Why didn’t he ensure that the Church is as safe as it can be?

Why didn’t he listen to survivors and deal with them honestly?

Why wasn’t the perpetrator brought to justice, but rewarded with a post of area dean and an honorary canonry of Chelmsford Cathedral?

Stephen Cottrell, don’t just talk about justice, don’t just talk about joy, don’t just talk about service, don’t just talk about love. Show us.