A second senior cleric of St. Paul's Cathedral in London has resigned over the way the church is handling protests inspired by the anti-capitalist Occupy Wall Street movement that began last month in New York.

For the past two weeks, hundreds of protesters have been camped out in front of the world famous cathedral

Dean Graeme Knowles, in a statement released Monday in the British capital, said criticism of the church has made his position “untenable” and that he was stepping down “with great sadness.” The church and the city of London have launched legal action in hopes of clearing tents from around the cathedral.

Last week, the chancellor of the cathedral, Giles Fraser, also resigned, expressing concern that the legal moves would lead to violence.

In the United States, the Occupy protests show no signs of abating, with demonstrations springing up in more and more citifies.

Early on Monday, police cleared a park in the southern city of Richmond, Virginia, ordering dozens of protesters to dismantle a tent city they established in mid-October and arresting several activists who refused.

In the past two days, demonstrations have also taken place in Austin, Texas, another city in the south, and in the northwestern city of Portland, Oregon. Dozens of protesters in both cities were taken into custody.

The Occupy Wall Street protest began six weeks ago as a loosely organized movement against corporate greed, economic inequality and high unemployment. In New York, where the movement began, protesters remained in their tent encampment near Wall Street over the weekend, despite a rare October storm that brought snow and sleet to the city and across much of the northeast.