Former choirboy issues CofE abuse cover-up claims
A former choirboy who claims he was groomed and abused by an Anglican priest has told ITV News the Church of England helped to cover it up.
Former archbishop denies 'abuse cover-up'
A former Archbishop of York has denied covering up allegations that a senior Church of England clergyman sexually abused choirboys.
Archbishop of Canterbury: 'Join the human race'
The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged people to "join the human race" this Christmas and become agents of transformation and renewal.
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Church of England conducting blessings for gay couples
ITV News has obtained evidence that the Church of England is privately acknowledging same-sex partnerships, by conducting blessings for gay couples.
Officially the Church is against the government's gay marriage plans.
A Church report today said vicars should offer support to gay couples but not blessings.
ITV News Social Afffairs Editor Penny Marshall, reports:
Bishop hopes Church will offer blessing to gay people
In 1998 all the Bishops of the Anglican Communion agreed that we needed to listen to the experience of gay people. And over the last 15 years the Church of England has done that.
And it’s come to a view that civil partnerships are a just response to the needs of the gay community. But the question the church now has to answer is how can it then withhold the blessing of God from that which it believes to be just.
– Bishop of Liverpool James JonesThat’s a question the Church is wrestling with at the moment. The Church believes there is a difference between marriage and civil partnership, between heterosexual union and same gender intimacy.
While maintaining that difference I personally hope that the Church will find a way to offering the blessing of God on the love of gay people in a civil partnership and in a committed stable relationship.
See more on this story on the News at 10.
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Bishop: Ban on same-sex blessings should be lifted
James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, told ITV News that he would like to see the ban on same-sex blessings overturned.
He told Social Affairs Editor Penny Marshall: "We’ve come to a time now that if we believe that civil partnerships are just then we can’t withhold the blessing of God from that which we believe to be just”.
See more on this story on the News at 10.
Retired Church of England priest's string of child sex offences
A retired West Sussex Church of England priest and a former organist and choirmaster have been found guilty of a string of child sex abuse offences dating back more than 25 years.
A judge said that Father Keith Wilkie Denford and Michael Mytton had committed "a grave and gross breach of trust". Prosecutors said Denford, 78, used the respectability of the cassock to groom and abuse two boys over an 18-month period from when they were aged around 13.
Following Denford and Mytton's convictions, the Bishop of Chichester Dr Warner said: "I note the verdict reached by the court today and we will now move swiftly to implement our own disciplinary procedures following this verdict in the case of Mr Denford.
"The Diocese fully acknowledges the suffering caused both to survivors of abuse and their families.
"We deeply regret the betrayal of trust in the context of public pastoral ministry and we extend our prayers and support to those caught up in the events highlighted by this case".
Priest abused boys when they were 13
Prosecutors said Denford, 78, used the respectability of the cassock to groom and abuse two boys over an 18-month period from when they were aged around 13. On one occasion he got into a bath with one of the boys while aroused.
On another occasion he pressed himself up against a boy intimately with the words: "How nice it is to have a cuddle".
Priest 'groomed and abused' boys
Denford and Mytton had denied all the charges. Following a two-week trial at Hove Crown Court, Denford, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham-by-Sea, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault against two boys between January 1987 and January 1990 and cleared of one count of the same charge.
Mytton, of South Road, East Chiltington, East Sussex, was cleared of one count of aiding and abetting indecent assault and cleared of two counts of indecent assault.
He was convicted of three counts of indecent assault relating to a third boy when the victim was in his early teens between September 1992 and September 1994.
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Priest and choirmaster committed 'grave breach of trust'
A retired West Sussex Church of England priest and a former organist and choirmaster have been found guilty of a string of child sex abuse offences dating back more than 25 years.
A judge said that Father Keith Wilkie Denford and Michael Mytton had committed "a grave and gross breach of trust". Prosecutors said Denford, 78, used the respectability of the cassock to groom and abuse two boys over an 18-month period from when they were aged around 13.
MP launches parliamentary bid to allow women bishops
Labour MP Diana Johnson will launch a parliamentary bid to force the Church of England to allow women bishops today.
Campaigners hope the bill will remind Church leaders that Parliament had the power to intervene if they failed to take action to remove the bar.
Mrs Johnson has claimed senior clerics have shown "little urgency" in making progress since the CofE voted down plans to allow females to take the senior roles.
Supporters of women bishops hope that the Bishops (Consecration of Women) Bill will keep the issue in the spotlight.
New Archbishop braced for gay marriage row
The new Archbishop of Canterbury is ready to reveal he believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, it has emerged.
Ahead of the first parliamentary vote on the reforms, the Rt Rev Justin Welby is prepared to face questions about the highly divisive issue.
Tories have been plunged into deep unrest by the proposals, which David Cameron has personally championed.
The Prime Minister is facing the prospect of some 180 members of his party, including a significant number of senior figures, opposing or abstaining in a vote on the changes on Tuesday. He is expected to attempt to talk to his MPs today in the hope of winning their support, according to The Times.
Bishop Welby is being formally confirmed in his new role at a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral today.
For more on reports that around 180 Conservative Cabinet members, junior ministers and party enforcers are poised to oppose or abstain in a vote on gay marriage, click here.
Yvette Cooper backs gay marriage bill
Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary and shadow minister for women and equalities, has backed the upcoming Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.
She said: "Couples who love each other and want to make a long-term commitment should be able to get married, whatever their gender or sexuality.
"Just as with civil partnerships in 2004, we look forward to passing this Bill into law with Labour votes.
"As freedom of religion is important, no church or religious organisation will be required to hold same-sex marriage ceremonies, but those who want to should be able to.
"Marriage as an institution has undergone repeated reform and modernisation over hundreds of years and needs to again now to reflect the equal value we place on long-term loving relationships for same-sex couples too."
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