Pressure had been building for Justin Welby to resign
The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced he will resign following criticism of his handling of a report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church of England.
In his resignation statement, Justin Welby 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. It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”
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Justin Welby had faced pressure to resign after it emerged last week that he did not follow up rigorously enough on reports of John Smyth’s “abhorrent” abuse of more than 100 boys and young men. The independent Makin Review concluded that barrister John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.
Demands for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation continued to grow as the Prime Minister said victims of a Church of England-linked abuser had been “failed very, very badly”. A petition, started by three members of the General Synod – the church’s parliament, calling for Justin Welby to quit had received more than 11,500 signatures.
Sir Keir Starmer would not comment directly on Mr Welby’s position, saying it was a “matter, in the end, for the church”, but he made clear that Smyth’s victims had been let down.
Justin Welby continued his statement: “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. The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.”
