Cathedral may be set to reopen, but the bitterness over the Church’s attitude to protesters has deepened
St Paul’s Cathedral looks set to reopen tomorrow as The Church of England appeared to be in the grip of a crisis of conscience surrounding its stance on London’s anti-capitalist protest. Those camping outside the cathedral, which was shut for the first time since the Blitz last Friday, were campaigning to topple the capitalist system – but yesterday succeeded in creating division within the church. Last night, as the cathedral remained closed for a fifth day and a legal bid to remove the 200 tents of Occupy London was launched, the Dean of St Paul’s, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, said he was optimistic the cathedral, which is in the heart of London’s financial district, would reopen to the public.
The decision “followed significant changes to the layout of those dwelling in tents outside the Cathedral, ” he said. He added: “We reiterate our basic belief in the right to protest as well as requesting that those people living in the tents now leave the site peacefully.”The statement offered little insight into the church’s stance on the protests or hints to the turmoil of the last 48 hours.
St Paul’s had been forced to close on Friday because of health and safety issues, the Dean said, though the cathedral refused to make public that advice or say who gave it.
Categories: UK