"The Government advice was about care for the community. We issued advice, not law, in the middle of a complicated process after the Prime Minister said places of worship would be closed. We were working with a fast-moving situation," he said.
Read moreVictims told The Telegraph that when their complaints were channeled through the Church's disciplinary process they encountered difficulties because it imposes time limits on claims and places the emphasis on complainants to prove their case.
The Church said on Friday that it was conducting a wide-ranging review of its disciplinary processes which Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted is "not fit for purpose".
Read moreHe said, amongst other pearls of wisdom, that "repentance and justice must go together"; that the acts of those memorialised in statues could be forgiven "only if there's justice," and that forgiveness can only be granted "if we change the way we behave now and say this was then and we learn from that and change how we are going to be in the future."
Read more"Jesus was a black man, and he was born into a persecuted group in an occupied country," he said.
"The leadership of the Church of England is still too white, and I hope under my watch we'll see further changes on that. The Church of England has not been good at reimagining what its ministry of leadership should look like."
He went on to say that he believed there was still institutional racism in the Church of England today.
Read more"Sadly, far too many have been happy to cede too quickly their freedom to the state," invalidating the historic freedom of the church enshrined in the Magna Carta, she lamented.
Protecting Church Liberty
In England in 1215, a coalition of nobles and all Catholic bishops, imposed the Magna Carta on King John, severely limiting royal powers.
Read moreBefore we go any further, you will be delighted to know that Jesus actually got a mention. But before you throw your stiff drink into the air in delight as you shout to your wife/husband/relation/friend/cat in the kitchen, just remember that this is the chap who recently banned his priests from visiting the sick in London's hospitals in case they got in the way of the NHS.
On Jesus:
Read more"We are not removing Emperor Constantine's statue. Nothing is happening: There is no discussion, action, intention or even thoughts about it," she insisted.
Review of All Monuments, Statues
However, "the Church of England has asked cathedrals and churches to review their monuments and statues for specific examples of memorials which symbolize and reflect prejudices and discrimination being experienced by people today," Atkinson confirmed (emphasis original).
Read more"I'm struck by the events of the last few days, again and again and again," Archbishop Welby said. "And I've been listening to those who have been talking about it from within their own experience of injustice as people of colour in this country."
Read moreIn a wide-ranging interview, he also urged the West to reconsider its prevailing mindset that Jesus was white, and pointed to different portrayals of Christ as Black, Middle Eastern and Chinese in different countries.
The two figures waded into the heated statue debate at a time when monuments of controversial figures are under the microscope following the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests.
Read moreHe added: "We continue to give thanks for all battling the pandemic and pray for a renewal of our common life."
Cardinal Nichols described it as "a great joy" to see churches open once again and it said had been "good to pray" with the archbishop "to mark this moment of grace".
Signs which read "pray safe stay safe" reminded people to keep two metres apart as they arrived at London's Westminster Cathedral.
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