Members of the Church of England should work to “withstand and even turn back” the forces of public opinion “that risk making … assisted dying a reality in our national life”, the archbishop of York has said.
Speaking to the church’s General Synod on Friday, Stephen Cottrell said permitting assisted dying would change “forever the contract between doctor and patient, pressurising the vulnerable and assuming an authority over death that belongs to God alone”.
MPs voted last month to pass a bill giving some terminally ill adults in England and Wales the legal right to be assisted to end their lives. It will now pass to the House of Lords, where 26 Anglican bishops sit by right, for further scrutiny.
Cottrell is in the second most senior clerical position in the Anglican church and is currently its de facto leader after the resignation of Justin Welby as archbishop of Canterbury last year.
Addressing the church’s governing body on Friday in York, Cottrell thanked the bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and the other Lords Spiritual “for their principled and persistent opposition to the assisted dying bill in parliament, which we now have a chance to debate as well”.
He said his view of “the dignity and value of every life and every moment of life” came from his Christian faith. “Although we may take for granted the Christian roots of our shared values and legal system in this country, it would be wise to remember that other philosophies and worldviews teach different things and may not uphold the dignity and value of life in the same way,” he said.
He added: “When we lose something as foundational as decisions over life and death, we are in danger of losing other safeguards and provisions as well.”
Referring obliquely to Welby’s resignation, which followed the publication of a damning report on his handling of one of the C of E’s worst abuse cases, Cottrell said the church had been “humbled” over the past year.
“God has humbled us in so many ways this year,” he said. “It has not been easy, but if it has made us more penitent, more determined to put victims and survivors first, more resolved to sort out all sorts of things to do with clergy discipline and accountability, terms of service, independent safeguarding and other things besides, then … God the redeemer who believes in the church is at work among us.”
The archbishop previously told the Guardian that the report’s publication and Welby’s resignation had led to an “unprecedented crisis” in the church.
Eight months after Welby’s resignation in November, the church is still far from deciding on his successor – a process that is expected to take up to a year.
Cottrell said he wanted the organisation to become “a simpler and a humbler and a bolder church”.
“Despite our failings, the people of this land have not given up on the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said.
