Dean of St Paul's Cathedral Resigns over Occupy London
Protest Row

Graeme Knowles, the dean of St Paul's, stands down with
immediate effect, saying his position has become 'untenable'

By Peter Walker
The Guardian/UK
October 31, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/31/dean-st-pauls-resigns-occupy

The perceived dithering and divisions of church officials
over the protest camp outside St Paul's in London have
claimed a second major scalp with the resignation of the
cathedral's dean, the Right Rev Graham Knowles.

The dean - whose job is sufficiently senior that a
replacement must be approved by the Queen - announced that
mounting criticism over the cathedral's handling of the
situation made his position "untenable".

In a statement read on his behalf to the media at the Chapter
House, opposite St Paul's, Knowles said: "In recent days,
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.

"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."

Last week the St Paul's canon chancellor, Giles Fraser,
stepped down after the cathedral's governing chapter voted to
begin possible legal action against the Occupy the London
Stock Exchange camp, in place now for 16 days. A part-time
cleric also resigned.

Cathedral elders have faced criticism not just over the
possibility that force and violence will be used to evict the
camp, but for the decision to close the cathedral for a week
over health and safety concerns that remain unclear. The
church has also experienced wider condemnation for failing to
properly and publicly agitate on the excesses of finance and
global banking until prompted to by the camp, part of a
burgeoning global movement.

The bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, who spoke to
activists at the camp on Sunday, told the briefing he had
been asked by the chapter to assist the cathedral until
Knowles's replacement was found.

Chartres said he wanted St Paul's to find a place in modern
public life as pivotal as that it had during bombing of
London in the second world war, when it was a symbol of Blitz
defiance.

The chapter had said they "would not condone the use of
violence in effecting any expulsion" of campers, he said.
However, he added, the legal action would continue and the
position could change: "Who knows what is going to happen?"

The first step in what is likely to be a lengthy legal battle
to remove the anti-capitalist camp from outside St Paul's was
beginning later on Monday afternoon when officials were due
to formally hand activists a letter requesting that they pack
up their tents and other belongings.

A Corporation of London spokesman said the letter, which was
still being drafted, was likely to ask that the Occupy the
London Stock Exchange protesters move within 24 or 48 hours.
Activists have been camping outside St Paul's for several
weeks in protest at the perceived excesses of bankers and the
global finance system.

Legal officials from the corporation, which owns some of the
land around St Paul's, said they would distribute several
copies of the letter in the camp.

If the activists do not comply, which appears almost
inevitable, then the corporation's lawyers will most likely
start court proceedings on Wednesday under the Highways Act,
seeking an eviction. This process could take several months,
lawyers have warned.

The letter will point out that there is no objection to a 24-
hour protest at the site, on the western edge of the
cathedral, but that the presence of more than 200 tents plus
assorted marquees providing food, information and other
facilities means the thoroughfare was blocked.

Announcing the plan to take court action after a meeting on
Friday, Michael Welbank, the councillor who chaired the
meeting, said: "Protest is an essential right in a democracy
- but camping on the highway is not."

The Occupy camp ended up on the site, which is part owned by
St Paul's, on 16 October after an initial plan to base itself
at nearby Paternoster Square, the private business and retail
development housing the London Stock Exchange, was thwarted
by police action.

The cathedral has backed many of the camp's aims, but on
Friday said it supported legal action.

A protester at the camp, Spyro van Leemnen, said any response
to the letter would be decided at a general assembly later in
the day. The movement makes decisions democratically, through
mass meetings.

The group has promised to remain at St Paul's in the long
term and spread to other areas in the City. A "spillover"
camp at Finsbury Square, further east, set up a week ago, is
now thought to be near capacity. It is believed that
protesters will target a third site later this week.

© 2011 Guardian Media

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