Today Mary Smail protested at Derby Cathedral in a plea to the Church of England to divest from fossil fuels.

After communion, Mary knelt down at the front of the Church, wearing sackcloth in an act of repentance for the Church. At the end of the service Mary took to the lectern and explained to the congregation why she had been kneeling.

She said: “It’s time we got real about what our sin with our money is doing to our brothers and sisters. It’s time we got real about what our sin with our money will be doing to our children and our grandchildren… The Church is an investor of a huge amount of money in damaging industries”

The police where called to Derby Cathedral, however upon their arrival Mary was not arrested.

Explaining why she took part in the action, Mary explained: “How can a church, how can a body of people who believe in God, be a participant in heading for climate hell when it’s not only themselves and their own children and grandchildren but it’s all the planet and the planet itself?

“If God so loved the world that he gave his only son as a sacrifice, what are we doing in response to that sacrifice in continuing to sacrifice the Earth and the people of God’s love on the altar of greed? The reason they are so angry today is not that we did an act of repentance in the church, it’s because I’m touching them where it hurts, and where it hurts is where the money is.”

“Are they behaving like the children of God or are they behaving like greedy toddlers at a birthday party?”