The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell
Credit: Tessa Bunney
I had hoped to interview the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell in person. But this was early March, the kids weren’t back at school and travel restrictions had yet to be lifted. I protested that, as this was official work business, it was entirely possible to do a socially distanced meeting that would stay well within the rules. The Primate of England would not be moved. And so we Zoomed instead.
It’s hard not to see this overzealous interpretation of Covid restrictions as emblematic of the problems the Church of England has got itself into over the past year in its response to the pandemic. When lockdown was first imposed, back in March 2020, communal worship was forbidden, but it was the C of E itself that ruled that clergy too should stay at home: they were not even permitted to go into their churches to conduct virtual services – although the buildings themselves were allowed to stay open for food banks and blood donor sessions. Last Easter Sunday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave his sermon from his kitchen.