Archbishop of Canterbury accused of constructing light of safeguarding failings in Lords speech

The outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has come under fire over a speech to the House of Lords in his first public address since announcing his resignation under a storm of controversy last month. 

Welby was accused of constructing light of great safeguarding failings within the Church of England that allowed former camp organiser John Smyth to abuse boys and young men over many years.

The scandal was laid bare within the Makin review published last month which said that Welby could and may have reported the abuse to police after becoming aware of it in 2013. He resigned several days after the report’s publication. 

In his address to the Lords on Thursday, Welby said, “The reality is that there comes a time for those who are technically leading a selected institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone mistaken – whether one is personally responsible or not – must require a head to roll. And there is just, on this case, one head that rolls well enough.”

He added, “I hope not literally,” referencing a 14th century archbishop who was beheaded.

The speech has been met with anger by victims of Smyth. Mark Stibbe accused Welby of taking a “frivolous tone” over “such a serious matter – a matter that has been, and continues to be, a matter of life and death to some”. 

He also rejected the suggestion that just one head should roll over the scandal.

“Smyth survivors want all those responsible to face down,” he said. “If Justin Welby is as serious about safeguarding as he claims, then this must occur.”

Another victim, using the pseudonym Graham Jones, told the BBC that the tone of the speech “didn’t look like considered one of sorrow which is what was required”. 

“This would have been a possibility to look into the camera and ask for forgiveness but as a substitute he talked frivolously a couple of matter that has led to suicide attempts by victims,” he said. 

“I used to be disgusted by the speech.”

The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, who led calls for Welby’s resignation over the John Smyth scandal, told Channel 4 News’s Cathy Newman that the tone of the speech “seems to place the main target away from personal responsibility to a way of corporate responsibility”, and that she was “greatly ashamed” by it. 

She called Welby’s speech “astonishing, actually, and incredibly poorly worded and timed”, and confirmed that she had reached out to a survivor to apologise. 

“Cathy, for once, I’m finding it hard to seek out words which can be appropriate aside from to say I used to be greatly disturbed,” she said. 

Dr Hartley said the “problem” with Welby’s words was that “there is a level of ambivalence between whether that is actually personal or is it more of the sense of corporate-ness in his role as archbishop?” 

She added, “And obviously humour has a time and a spot, but this is totally not the time or place for humour and positively not a speech that appears to not show due regard and care and compassion for victims and survivors of abuse.”

Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II, told TalkTV he was shocked by the “level of tone deafness” and said that the speech “lacked any moral sensitivity”.

“He appears to think he wasn’t personally responsible but he was personally responsible,” he said.