THE Archbishop of Canterbury is to resign, saying that doing so is within the “best interests of the Church of England”.
Archbishop Welby has faced calls to resign in response to Keith Makin’s report on John Smyth, which was released last Thursday (News, 11 November).
In an announcement issued by Lambeth Palace at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Archbishop Welby said: “I feel that stepping aside is in the perfect interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I actually have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for each considered one of us.”
Regarding the Makin report, Archbishop Welby said that it had “exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence in regards to the heinous abuses of John Smyth.
“When I used to be informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.”
The report says that Archbishop Welby was “ill-advised in regards to the actions taken within the Ely diocese” where Smyth’s abuse was first reported to a Church safeguarding adviser. “He was told that a referral had been made to the police. This was not correct.”
Although the Bishop of Ely’s safeguarding adviser had spoken with the police in regards to the abuse that had been disclosed, a proper report hadn’t in actual fact been made. Had “more incisive and comprehensive motion” been taken, the extent of Smyth’s abuse might have been identified earlier, and he might have been dropped at justice, the review says.
“It may be very clear that I have to take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024,” Archbishop Welby said in his resignation statement, referring to the length of time between the primary disclosures of Smyth’s abuse to Lambeth Palace, and the publication of the Makin report last week (News, 7 November).
He said that he hoped the choice to resign “makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the necessity for change and our profound commitment to making a safer church. As I step down I achieve this in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.
“The previous couple of days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame on the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly twelve years I actually have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to guage what has been done.
“In the meantime, I’ll follow through on my commitment to satisfy victims. I’ll delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the mandatory risk assessment process is complete.”
Archbishop Welby said that had sought the permission of the King after deciding to resign, but that exact timings of his departure can be confirmed sooner or later.
He wrote: “It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will probably be decided once a review of mandatory obligations has been accomplished, including those in England and within the Anglican Communion.”
On Monday, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, added her voice to calls for Archbishop Welby to resign (News, 11 November).
At the time of the announcement on Tuesday, a petition calling on Archbishop Welby to resign had over 13,000 signatures.
