BREAKING NEWS: Archbishop of Canterbury resigns

WELBY: Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign.

KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has resigned following criticism of his handling of a report into a child abuser who was associated with the Church of England.

Justin Welby had faced mounting pressure to resign after it emerged last week that he did not follow up on reports of John Smyth’s abuse of more than 100 boys and young men.

Smyth is accused of sexually, psychologically and physically abusing about 30 boys and young men in the United Kingdom and 85 in Zimbabwe and South Africa over five decades.  He died in Cape Town in 2018 aged 75.

Welby’s resignation comes after an independent review into Smyth’s abuse of children and young men was published last week. The report found the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by Smyth.

The report concluded that Smyth might have been brought to justice had Welby formally reported it to police a decade ago.

On Monday, more than 8,000 members of the General Synod – the church’s parliament signed a petition calling on Welby to resign.

In a letter on Tuesday, Justin Welby said that he had sought the permission of King Charles to resign.

“Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign. When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.”I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024.

“I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024,” he stated

WeIby said that he will follow on his commitment to meet Smyth’s victims.

The Most Reverend Welby replaced Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

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