Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns after report finds Church of England ‘covered up’ child sex abuse

Sky News

The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned after a report found the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by a barrister.

The independent Makin review into John Smyth’s abuse of children and young men was published last week.

Across five decades in three different countries, involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

The report concluded he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police soon after he was installed as archbishop 11 years ago. Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while still under investigation by Hampshire Police.

In a resignation letter, Justin Welby said: “Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign.

“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuse 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 re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024.

“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.”

The King, as supreme governor of the Church of England, accepted Mr Welby’s resignation on Tuesday morning.

Reacting to the news, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said it was “the right and honourable thing to do” to have “decided to take his share of responsibility for the failures identified by the Makin Review”.

Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally said the move “provides the urgent impetus we need to change the face of safeguarding in the Church of England”.

‘Deep shame’

Joanne Grenfell, the Bishop of Stepney, told Sky News’ Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge she felt “deep shame and sorrow” over the Church of England’s history of abuse.

She said: “It’s really clear that we failed by allowing that abuse to happen and by allowing it to be covered up.

“And so, yeah, I feel deep shame and sorrow and that is why I’m doing this job.”

“It’s hard, but I can’t begin to imagine what it feels like to be a victim or survivor of abuse,” she added. “We have to change” for them, she continued.

Bishop Grenfell went on to say the issue of abuse was a “whole church problem” which warranted a “whole church response”.

She said: “It’s about culture. It’s about leadership, it’s about theology. So, yes, abuse matters. But the whole context is what needs to change.”

Mr Welby knew Smyth having worked at some of the Christian summer camps he ran in the 1970s. The Makin review said there was no evidence they had “maintained any significant contact” after that.

And the archbishop said he had “no idea or suspicion of the abuse” before 2013.

Focus turns to those who knew and did nothing

Richard Gittins, one of Smyth’s victims, told Sky News he is “pleased” Mr Welby is stepping aside.

“It now shows that he’s taken some action. And I think it also means that the focus can be turned on other people who knew and haven’t done anything about it,” he said.

“Although he’s the highest person in the church, he’s not the most responsible for the cover-up. So I think it’s time now to focus attention on other bishops who have kept the stories to themselves.”

On Thursday, Mr Welby told Channel 4 News that although he had been “giving [resigning] a lot of thought for actually quite a long time… no, I am not going to resign”.

He had been under pressure to quit after more than 1,500 members of the church, including some of its General Synod committee, signed a petition calling on him to go.

Father Robert Thompson was one of the three clergymen who launched the petition.

He told Sky News he has spoken to some of Smyth’s victims who feel “gaslighted” and that “not much has changed”, despite the scale of abuse being brought to light by the inquiry.

He said a “complete culture change” was needed in the church, while safeguarding must be “completely independent”.