Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over Church of England sex abuse scandal

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Justin Welby has revealed he will step down from his role after he "failed" to carry out a proper investigation into a serial sex abuser. The Archbishop of Canterbury's decision after a petition calling for him to quit, which was started by key church members, raked in more than 10,000 signatures.

The petition was started by three members of the General Synod, the legislative arm of the church, and reached the signature milestone earlier today. And following the revelations, Mr Welby announced his intention to resign from his role, in a statement published on his official website this afternpon.

It read: "It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024. It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.

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"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. 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 twelve 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 Mirror reports Mr Welby initially apologised after the Makin Review concluded that barrister John Smyth, who is thought to have been the most prolific abuser associated with the Church of England, might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.

Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review published last week said. Mr Welby acknowledged the review found that, after Smyth’s abuse was subject to wider exposure in 2013, he had “personally failed to ensure” it was “energetically investigated”.

But he initially resisted calls to resign, with a Lambeth Palace spokesperson saying at first that the archbishop “hopes the Makin Review supports the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world ”. Andrew Morse, a victim of Smyth’s whom he first met while a pupil at Winchester College, Hampshire, described him as a predator.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also grilled about the ongoing furore, but refused to go so far as to condemn the top C of E priest's actions. When pressed by a group of journalists while travelling to this week's COP climate summit in Azerbaijan on Monday, UK PM Starmer said: "That’s a matter really for the church rather than for me."

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