When Bishop George Bell was wrongly condemned by the Church of England as a child abuser in 2015, his name was removed from a number of buildings in his Chichester diocese that had been dedicated to his memory. Now that the Archbishop of Canterbury has belatedly accepted the Church’s error (see below), the Bishop’s name must be restored to all the places from which it was shamefully expunged. In a letter published in The Daily Telegraph on 25 November, Alistair Lexden urged Anglicans to demand action by the current Bishop of Chichester.
SIR -- Bishop Bell’s name must be put back on the buildings in Chichester, as the Rev Dr Barry Orford insists (Letters, November 23). There is no sign, however, that the current Bishop of Chichester, Martin Warner, with whom I have clashed in the House of Lords, intends to lift a finger.
Last week he praised the statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as “both humble and courageous, reminding us that these virtues, evident in George Bell himself, do still surface in the Church of England”.
It is an outrage to put Archbishop Welby on the same plane as the great man whose reputation he traduced. Bishop Warner added that he had “no plans to make any further comments”. Anglicans must give him no peace until he either does his duty or resigns.
Lord Lexden
London SW1
