Penitential Tokenism

Barely a week after the Duke of York's brother was crowned Defender of the Faith, the former Archbishop of York has been relieved of his remaining duties for the usual reason. For two years John Sentamu has been beavering away as an "honorary assistant bishop," doubtless vastly to the benefit of the Diocese of Newcastle; but a recent report has stated that he failed to act on allegations that an Anglican vicar repeatedly raped a teenager. After the acknowledged fashion of a follower of Christ, Sentamu did not offer to hand over his cloak as well as his coat; nor did he walk two miles with his accusers when required to walk one; nor, verily, did he content himself with the prayers and best wishes of the Diocese of Newcastle at this testing time. Instead, he proclaimed that the author of the report displayed a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the responsibilities of senior Christians towards victims of clerical abuse; which, judging by Sentamu's actual response to the case in question, amount largely to the assurance of thoughts. Meanwhile, the Church does not anticipate imposing any sanctions, given that all the homosexuality involved was merely non-consensual and illegal.