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By Alistair Lexden

Last updated: March 28, 2016

Lord Lexden is the Conservative Party’s official historian. His website can be found here.

Until a few months ago, the formidable reputation of George Bell, Bishop of Chichester for nearly 30 years and runner-up for the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1944, seemed totally secure. Within the Church of England he had long been revered as one of its greatest bishops, learned, devout and inspiring. More widely, he was famous for his courageous stands in international affairs. Before 1939 .no one did more to sustain and defend German Christian leaders and Jews of all kinds in the face of Nazi persecution. During the Second World War, he led the protests against the bombing of entire German cities which killed so many civilians. This brought him much criticism to which Churchill contributed richly, but no one questioned his…