Head of Anglican Communion resigns over failures in dealing with 'abhorrent' abuse case

Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury leaves Canterbury Cathedral after his enthronement ceremony March 21, 2013. Welby announced his resignation Nov. 12, 2024, due to failures in dealing with clerical sexual abuse case in the Church of England. (OSV News photo/Luke MacGregor, Reuters)

LONDON, England (OSV News) -- Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Communion, resigned Nov. 12 due to failures in dealing with a British abuse case.

"It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024," Archbishop Welby said in a Nov. 12 statement.

Before noon of the day of resignation, more than 11,000 signatures had been gathered in a petition by members of the General Synod, the national assembly of the Church of England, calling for the archbishop to resign.

Pressure for his resignation mounted after an independent inquiry authored by safeguarding specialist Keith Makin was published Nov. 7 by the Church of England, Britain's established state church, citing "abhorrent" abuse and Archbishop Welby's failure to report it.

The case over which the archbishop resigned is that of John Smyth, a prominent British lawyer, who, according to the independent report, abused more than 100 boys and young men starting in the 1970s when he was running summer camps as a layman guardian. Accusations include physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley of Newcastle reinforced the calls for resignation of Archbishop Welby Nov. 11, telling the BBC that the decision would be "a very clear indication that a line has been drawn."

Archbishop Welby was a spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide.

"The abuse at the hands of John Smyth was prolific and abhorrent. Words cannot adequately describe the horror of what transpired," stated the independent review into the church's handling of the Smyth case. "Many of the victims who took the brave decision to speak to us about what they experienced have carried this abuse silently for more than 40 years."

The report, Archbishop Welby said in a Nov. 12 statement, "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," he said.

Smyth held several leadership roles in the Iwerne Trust charity in the 1970s and 1980s, organizing summer camps for young Christians.

"John Smyth was an appalling abuser of children and young men," said the Oct. 18 report, published Nov. 7. "His abuse was prolific, brutal and horrific. His victims were subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks. The impact of that abuse is impossible to overstate and has permanently marked the lives of his victims. John Smyth's own family are victims of his abuse."

On the front page of the report, a victim of Smyth is cited saying about the lawyer's abuse: "at times I have let it define me, like letting what I see in the rear-view mirror distract me from what's in front."

The Church of England, the report said, was aware of Smith's abuse as early as in the 1980s, but failed to act.

According to the report, "Following 'specific developments' in 2012, from July 2013, the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa," where he moved.

"This represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice and may have resulted in an ongoing and avoidable safeguarding threat in the period between 2012 and his death in 2018," it said.

Archbishop Welby admitted to failing to act when Smyth's abuse was exposed in a Channel 4 investigation in February 2017, and he did not meet with victims until 2020.

"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," he said in the resignation statement, adding that he stepped down "Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King."

Bishop Joanne Grenfell of Stepney, lead bishop for safeguarding for the Church of England, and Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church of England's national director of safeguarding, said in a Nov. 7 statement that they are "deeply sorry for the horrific abuse inflicted by the late John Smyth and its lifelong effects, already spanning more than 40 years."

They named Smyth "arguably the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England."

"We know that no words can undo the damage done to people's lives both by him and by the failure of individuals in the Church and other institutions to respond well," they said, adding that they are "appalled that any clergy person could believe that covering up abuse was justified in the name of the Gospel, which is about proclaiming Good News to the poor and healing the broken hearted."

"It was wrong for a seemingly privileged group from an elite background to decide that the needs of victims should be set aside, and that Smyth's abuse should not therefore be brought to light," they said.

They added: "Every member of the Church is responsible for a culture in which victims are heard, responded to well, and put first: there is never a place for covering up abuse."