LONDON (Reuters) – Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has stepped down as a priest over claims he mishandled a sexual abuse case, the BBC reported on Tuesday, in the latest scandal to hit the Church of England in recent weeks.
The BBC said Carey quit after the broadcaster contacted him over allegations he allowed priest David Tudor, who had been banned in the late 1980s over sexual abuse allegations, to return to ministry under supervision.
Carey, who was the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide from 1991 to 2002, contacted the Diocese of Oxford on Dec. 4 to surrender his permission to officiate (PTO), the Telegraph newspaper reported.
The BBC said Carey wrote in his resignation letter that it was an “honour to serve”, and gave “thanks to God for his enduring faithfulness”.
The Church of England declined to comment. The Diocese of Oxford said in a statement sent to Reuters that Carey had retired from his ministry and relinquished his PTO on Dec. 4.
Tudor was banned from ministry for life by a Church tribunal in October this year after admitting sexual misconduct.
Carey’s resignation comes after outgoing archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped down last month over a separate case, saying he had failed to ensure a proper investigation into allegations of abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps decades ago.
The Church of England’s incoming leader, Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, has also been urged to quit for his handling of Tudor’s case exposed in a BBC investigation.
Cottrell is due to take over temporarily next month from Welby as archbishop of Canterbury. He said in a statement that he had not had legal grounds to suspend Tudor until nine years later, when police arrested him.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
