Petition Calling for the Resignations of Archbishop of Canterbury & Bishop of London
Politician and media personality, Laurence Fox has taken up the cause of Calvin Robinson against the Church of England. Fox started a change.org petition calling on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London to resign their positions in favour of BAME [Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic] candidates.
The petition also “demands” that the next Archbishop of Canterbury be democratically elected from a group of BAME clergy.
Fox is a very vocal advocate of free speech and thought.
The petition, somewhat mischievously, states:
“Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Bishop of London Sarah Mullally have both described the Church of England as ‘institutionally racist’. As a result, we are demanding that they and other senior white people resign and make way for BAME clergypeople.
“As far back as 2020, Mr Welby has said that he was ‘ashamed of (the Church’s) history’, calling for ‘radical and decisive’ changes to be made in order to remedy past injustices. For Mr Welby, these include the improved representation of ethnic monitories in the Church.
“Sarah Mullally has likewise been full of penitence for what she sees as the Church’s ongoing sins, recently informing a black trainee vicar that ‘as a white woman I can tell you (the trainee) that the Church is institutionally racist’.
“While the black trainee disagreed, it is clear that both the Rt Hon Welby and Dame Mullally are having to live with unimaginable guilt.
“We therefore invite them to save their souls by resigning their posts in favour of BAME Anglicans. Welby and Mullally would be showing the ultimate form of moral leadership, giving up their own careers to resolve what they attest to be a grim historical injustice.
“This would certainly be more Christian than forcing white clergypeople out of their own badly paid professions and onto the streets. Instead, we demand that the next Archbishop is democratically elected from a group of BAME candidates.
“Please sign this petition if you believe that the Church of England’s senior leadership needs to become more diverse, and/or that the senior leadership needs to be rescued from such an abhorrent institution (their own).”
At press time, several thousand people had signed Fox’s petition.
