Anglican church leader urges 'penitence' amid abuse row

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the Anglican Church's second most senior cleric, will temporarily take charge in the New Year after the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby last month.

Cottrell gave a sermon calling for the congregation to "walk the talk" after Welby stepped down as head of the Church of England -- the mother church of Anglicanism -- last month over failures to report decades of abuse by a church-linked lawyer.

The Archbishop of York himself faced calls to resign earlier this month over claims that he allowed a serial sexual abuser to remain in post for nearly a decade during his time as the Bishop of Chelmsford.

Speaking from York Minster cathedral in northeast England, the future interim leader said the Anglican church must "kneel in penitence" this Christmas and "be changed".

"Right now, this Christmas, God's Church itself needs to come to the manger and strip off her finery and kneel in penitence and adoration. And be changed," he said.

"Don't just talk about justice, don't just talk about service, don't just talk about love. Show me," the Archbishop of York added.

According to a BBC report, priest David Tudor remained in the ministry for years despite Cottrell's knowledge that the Church had banned him from being alone with children and paid compensation to a sexual abuse claimant.

At least seven women say they were abused by Tudor, according to the BBC.

Earlier this week, Cottrell acknowledged things "could have been handled differently".

One woman who says she was abused by Tudor in the 1980s told the BBC she would "find it difficult to listen to (a Christmas sermon from) Stephen Cottrell and not separate the message that he's putting across from what I know."

The Christmas sermon at Canterbury Cathedral was given by the Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin instead of Welby, who is out of the public view.