The head of the worldwide Anglican Communion - the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev. Justin Welby, has announced today (November 12) his resignation following concerns about his handling of a sex abuse case involving the deceased John Smyth QC who sexually abused countless boys and young men in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Makin Review published last week, looking into the matters of Smyth’s abuse, concluded that the serial abuser could have been stopped sooner if Welby had formally reported concerns disclosed to him a decade ago.
Smyth was reported to be the most prolific serial abuser associated with the Church of England, a previous independent review concluded. He died aged 77 in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018, after being accused of abusing boys at his home in Winchester, England, whom he worked with at a Christian summer camp in the county of Dorset in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the BBC.
“Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury,” said Welby in a statement published on his official website. He added the date of his departure depended upon constitutional and church responsibilities.
“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.”
Welby acknowledged that he should take “personal and institutional responsibility” for what happened between 2013 and 2024 - a “long and retraumatising period.”
“I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.”
Welby also said that recent days, in which clergy including the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen;-Ann Hartley, called for his resignation, had renewed his “long felt and profound sense of shame” at historic safeguarding issues at the Church of England.
“For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.
“In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.”
Welby asked for prayers for his wife Caroline and children at this time, who have supported him.
“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. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.
“For above all else, my deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person.”
The resignation also follows criticism by evangelicals after Welby openly supported homosexual behavior, as reported by Christian Daily International.
