Reverend Giles Fraser, the canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, has spoken for the first time about why he resigned over the Occupy London protest.
In his first full interview since taking the dramatic decision he told The Guardian: "I cannot support using violence to ask people to clear off the land. The church cannot answer peaceful protest with violence.
"I would want to have negotiated down the size of the camp and appeal to those there to help us keep the cathedral going, and if that mean that I was thereby granting them some legal right to stay then that is the position I would have had to wear."
He has been a pillar of support for the Occupy protest in London - but was put in a difficult position when health and safety advisors suggested St Paul's closed its doors to visitors.
There is now the possibility of the world famous church and the Corporation of London evict protesters from outside the cathedral.
"I cannot countenance the idea that this would be about [the eviction of] Dale Farm on the steps of St Paul's.
The full interview can be read here.