Perilous
Times
Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral stepping down amid criticism
over Occupy London protests
By Cassandra Vinograd, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
LONDON - The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral quit, the second
high-profile clergy member to step down over anti-capitalist
protests that have spilled across the historic church's grounds.
The resignation of Graeme Knowles on Monday leaves the cathedral
without a leader and will delay its planned legal action to evict
the protest camp — though the neighbourhood's governing body says
it will formally ask the protesters Tuesday to leave, and will go
to court if they refuse.
Knowles said his position had become "untenable" as criticism of
the cathedral mounted in the press and in public opinion. Knowles
had urged protesters to leave the cathedral area to allow it to
reopen its doors.
Officials shut the church to the public on Oct. 21, saying
demonstrators' tents were a health and safety hazard. It was the
first time the 300-year-old London church had closed since German
planes bombed the city during World War II. After a public outcry,
it reopened Friday.
Knowles' resignation follows that last week of Giles Fraser, a
senior St. Paul's Cathedral priest who had welcomed the
anti-capitalist demonstrators to set up camp outside the landmark,
inspired by New York's Occupy Wall Street movement. He said he
resigned because he feared moves to evict the protesters could end
in violence.
A part-time chaplain, Fraser Dyer, also resigned last week, saying
he was "embarrassed" by the decision to take legal action to try
to evict the protesters.
Senior clergy have been divided over how to handle the scores of
tents set up outside the iconic cathedral near the River Thames in
central London. Demonstrators erected the tents Oct. 15, during a
thwarted attempt to stage a protest outside the nearby London
Stock Exchange.
The protesters said Knowles' resignation showed that the
management of St. Paul's is "obviously deeply divided" over the
protests. But in a statement on the Occupy London website, the
movement said it had never called for any "scalps" from the
clergy.
"Our cause has never been directed at the staff of the cathedral,"
the group said. It called for an "open and transparent dialogue"
between demonstrators and those urging campers to move.
Knowles, 60, called the past two weeks a "testing time" and said
his decision to step down did not come easily.
"Since the arrival of the protesters' camp outside the cathedral,
we have all been put under a great deal of strain and have faced
what would appear to be some insurmountable issues," he said in a
statement. "I hope and pray that under new leadership these issues
might continue to be addressed and that there might be a swift and
peaceful resolution."
St. Paul's officials said Knowles made his decision known on
Sunday night and has already removed himself from operations.
On Sunday, clergymen and demonstrators held talks aimed at
avoiding a violent confrontation over the camp.
Both the church and the local authority, the City of London
Corporation, announced last week they were going to court to clear
scores of tents from a pedestrianized square and footpath outside
the cathedral.
But cathedral spokesman Rob Marshall said legal proceedings had
not yet started, and the governing chapter "is now discussing a
range of options in the wake of the resignation of the dean."
Knowles' resignation does not affect the separate legal action by
the City of London Corporation, which is seeking eviction on the
grounds that the protest is an "unreasonable user of the highway."
It said it would issue a letter to the protesters on Tuesday
asking them to remove their tents. If they refuse, the Corporation
will go to court in a bid to get an injunction to clear the camp.
Many expect the legal process to be lengthy and complex.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of the Anglican
church, called Knowles' decision to step down "very sad news."
"The events of the last couple of weeks have shown very clearly
how decisions made in good faith by good people under unusual
pressure can have utterly unforeseen and unwelcome consequences,
and the clergy of St. Paul's deserve our understanding in these
circumstances," he said in a statement.
"The urgent larger issues raised by the protesters at St. Paul's
remain very much on the table and we need — as a church and as
society as a whole — to work to make sure that they are properly
addressed."
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Associated Press writers Robert Barr and Jill Lawless contributed
to this report.