Justin Welby resigns over child abuse cover-up scandal

Originally published in Premier Christian News

The Most Rev Justin Welby has resigned his position as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury after a report into a prolific child abuser led to accusations of a Church of England cover-up.

Archbishop Justin said he “must take personal and institutional responsibility” over his inaction related to the abuse at the hands of Iwerne Christian camp leader, John Smyth.

Smyth, who died in South Africa in 2018, is thought to have subjected more than 100 boys in the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe to various types of abuse during the 1970s and 80s, as detailed in a recent review led by UK social services director, Keith Makin. In 2001 Smyth moved to SA where he ran the Justice Alliance of South Africa, an organisation dedicated to upholding high moral standards in society. He was being investigated by police in the UK at the time of his death.

Archbishop Justin said the Makin report “exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth”. 

He went on: “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.

It is my duty to honour my constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.

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 Makin report referenced Welby’s involvement in the Iwerne camps at the same time as Smyth, with one participant saying they saw the Archbishop engage in a “grave” conversation about Smyth in 1978.

Welby insisted that he did not know about the abuse allegations until 2013. 

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said it was “the right and honourable thing to do” for Archbishop Justin to resign. 

“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,” he said.  

“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.”

He said the Church of England “must achieve a more victim-centred and trauma-informed approach to safeguarding” and that this “must address the broader questions of culture and leadership”.

Archbishop Stephen went on: “In this regard, much progress has already been made over the last 10 years. Indeed, it has been Archbishop Justin himself who has championed those developments and reforms.

“Both Justin and I have made our hopes known about the independence of safeguarding discussed both by Makin and also in Alexis Jay’s report and look forward to the group already at work on these bringing recommendations which can be both effective and trusted.

“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.”

Yesterday, the Bishop of Newcastle became the highest-ranked cleric in the Church of England to call for Archbishop Justin to step down.

Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley said his resignation would be “a very clear indication that a line has been drawn” and that the Church of England must “move towards independence of safeguarding”.

A petition calling for his resignation had also gained strong momentum, with 14 000 people adding their names over the space of two days. 

Read Justin Welby’s full resignation statement below:

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.

It is my duty to honour my constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.

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 12 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.

I ask everyone to keep my wife Caroline and my children in their prayers. They have been my most important support throughout my ministry, and I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice.

Caroline led the spouses’ programme during the Lambeth Conference and has travelled tirelessly in areas of conflict supporting the most vulnerable, the women, and those who care for them locally.

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.”

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