Archbishop of Canterbury resigns in wake of abuse scandal report

The Archbishop of Canterbury insisted last week he would remain in post

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced he will resign, following days of pressure after a damning review into the most prolific abuser associated with the Church of England.

The independent Makin Review concluded that barrister John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.

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Mr Welby had apologised but stated that he would not resign, following the review’s publication last week.

But in a statement on Tuesday, he said: “Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.

“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.

“When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

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“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

Mr Welby said he believed his resignation was in the church’s best interests.

Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

He said: “I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve.”

Over five decades between the 1970s until his death, Smyth is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

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A lay reader who led Christian summer camps, Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said.

Mr Welby knew Smyth because of his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, but the review said there was no evidence that he had “maintained any significant contact” with the barrister in later years.

The archbishop said he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse” before 2013.

Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, said Justin Welby’s resignation was “the right and honourable thing to do”.

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In a statement, he said: “As I read the Makin Review last week and reflected on the terrible abuse perpetrated by John Smyth and shamefully covered up by others, I am, first of all, moved by the accounts of victims and survivors that we have heard from so powerfully. They were badly let down by many in different parts of the Church of England. I am grateful for their courage to be part of the review.”

“As a church we continue to work towards and must achieve a more victim-centred and trauma-informed approach to safeguarding within the Church of England, and this must address the broader questions of culture and leadership. In this regard, much progress has already been made over the last 10 years.”

He added: “As Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin has decided to take his share of responsibility for the failures identified by the Makin review. I believe this is the right and honourable thing to do.”

The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, said the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the wake of the John Smyth abuse case provided the “urgent impetus we need to change the face of safeguarding in the Church of England”.

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The report said Smyth “could and should have been formally reported to the police in the UK, and to authorities in South Africa (church authorities and potentially the police) by church officers, including a diocesan bishop and Justin Welby in 2013″.

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