Senior church official resigns over London anti-capitalist protest

Oct 27, 2011, 14:59 GMT

London - A controversial peace camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in London claimed its first prominent victim Thursday when a senior church official resigned as a result of tension over the protests.

Giles Fraser, the chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, one of London's most well known landmarks, said he feared there could be 'violence in the name of the church.'

Fraser had originally encouraged the peace campaigners to stay when they first arrived outside the church nearly two weeks ago, as part of worldwide protests to support the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York.

But as it became clear that the 300 protestors, encamped in some 150 tents, were planning to stay, the dean of St Paul's, Graeme Knowels, decided to close the church to visitors on October 21.

Knowels said health and safety officials had forced the closure, as the protestors were operating a kitchen and storing flammable materials in the grounds.

The church soon found, however, that it was losing around 20,000 pounds (32,000 dollars) a day in income due to the closure, and Knowels said the cathedral would try to reopen Friday.

Meanwhile, the City of London Corporation, which is responsible for the borough, has said they are seeking legal advice to evict the protestors.

There was little doubt Thursday that Fraser's resignation from the senior post was triggered by tension within the church leadership.

'I resigned because I believe that the chapter has set on a course of action that could mean there will be violence in the name of the church,' he told the Guardian newspaper in an interview in Thursday's online edition.

The protestors, meanwhile, vowed to stay put. 'We are deeply moved to hear that Giles Fraser has resigned. He is man of great personal integrity and our thoughts are with him,' said a spokesman for the Occupy London camp.

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