UPDATE: The BBC reports that Giles Fraser’s resignation threat relates to “use of force” rather than the taking of legal action to remove the protestors. h/t Thinking Anglicans.
The Times is reporting that Canon Dr. Giles Fraser will resign if the Cathedral moves to evict Occupy London protesters:
…Dr Giles Fraser, who is responsible for the cathedral’s relations with the financial institutions of the City of London, is understood to be prepared to quit should it take legal action against the 200 tents forming an increasingly permanent-looking settlement on its land.
….
A resignation from Dr Fraser would make him a martyr for the anti-capitalist cause and prove hugely embarrassing to the cathedral and the Church. If the cathedral does not try to oust the protesters, however, it will be forced into the humiliating position of reopening with the tents still in place, or remaining closed for months — putting events such as the Remembrance Day services at risk and losing the cathedral about £16,000 a day in tourist revenue.
St Paul’s Cathedral: a statement from the Bishop of London
25/10/11
A statement by the Bishop of London on the protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral.
“This demonstration has undoubtedly raised a number of very important questions. The St Paul’s Institute has itself focused on the issue of executive pay and I am involved in ongoing discussions with City leaders about improving shareholder influence on excessive remuneration.
“Nevertheless, the time has come for the protestors to leave, before the camp’s presence threatens to eclipse entirely the issues that it was set up to address. The Dean and the Chapter, who are responsible for St Paul’s, have already made it clear that the protest should come to an end and I fully support that view.”
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I think they were thinkinbg of the present when they kept the Cathedral open.
Then they were thinking of the future when they closed it.
And then they thought of the eternal and reopened it.
Clint, I’m more interested in the leadership at St Paul’s doing the right thing now. I don’t know what was in their hearts and minds when they chose to close the cathedral. Maybe they’ll say; maybe they won’t. I do believe in second chances, and although they messed up badly, they can take steps to clean up some of their mess.
June Butler
June, don’t you want to know why they didn’t do that in the first place? Anglicans are sometimes really bad at being Christian when it involves doing scary things. Strangely, it seems only Wesleyan and Anglo-Catholic movements have been willing to do this in the past.
But then, a recognizable Anglicanism was born out of a movement to make everyone comfortable, and a stop rocking the damn boat approach was enforced by law. Our greatest genius is also our greatest flaw. Discuss.
At this point, there’s really no good way out of the corner into which the powers at St Paul’s have painted themselves. They should do an about face, reopen the cathedral, make peace with the protestors, and help them make the campsite as safe as possible…work with them, instead of standing against them.
June Butler
It frustrates me to see a supposedly Christian institution opt to protect their own financial interests rather than stand up for social justice. Shame on the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s!
-Cullin R. Schooley