The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who is also the head of the Anglican Church with 85 million followers worldwide, has announced his intention to resign.
“With the permission of His Majesty the King, I have decided to step down,” he stated, following pressures related to covering up an abuse scandal.
Welby found himself in a particularly difficult position after the release of a damning report on the church’s cover-up of abuse incidents involving John Smyth in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as later in Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is estimated that around 130 boys fell victim to him.
The report concluded that John Smyth could have been brought to justice if the archbishop had formally reported him to the police a decade ago.
Welby mentioned last week that he had considered resigning due to his “shameful” decision not to act on the abuse reports involving Smyth—a powerful and charismatic lawyer who died in 2018—when he was informed of them in 2013.
Smyth abused students from private schools who attended evangelical Christian holiday camps in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Over five decades, it is alleged that he subjected 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse.
“He was never brought to justice for his abuse.”
When the abuse came to light, Smyth was allowed to relocate abroad with the knowledge of church officials, where he continued to act with impunity. He died in Cape Town in 2018 at the age of 75, while under investigation by Hampshire police.
The report states that “he was never brought to justice for the abuse.”
Welby volunteered at the camps in the 1970s but denied having knowledge of the concerns surrounding Smyth. However, the report described this as “unlikely.” The report’s authors suggest that Welby may not have known the extreme severity of the abuse but was very likely aware to some extent that Smyth was causing concern. “It is not possible to determine whether Welby knew the full severity of the abuse in the UK before 2013,” the report states.
