The Archbishop of Canterbury dramatically resigned today admitting he feels ‘shame’ over the way victims of the Church’s most prolific child abuser were let down.
Justin Welby said he was standing down after a damning report found his failure to act meant that ‘abhorrent’ serial abuser John Smyth was never brought to justice.
Dr Welby had initially tried to cling on, but was effectively forced to quit after senior colleagues joined criticism and more than 10,000 signed a petition. Keir Starmer had also pointedly refused to back the Archbishop.
In a statement this afternoon, Dr Welby said: ‘Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.
‘The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses 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 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.’
Dr Welby added: ‘The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England.’
Sir Keir declined to give Dr Welby his backing on Monday after a senior Bishop called for him to resign, instead saying that it is a ‘matter really for the church’.
However he went a step further today when he was asked about growing calls for the Archbishop to step down while attending Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sir Keir said that findings in the review by Keith Makin that Smyth abused more than 100 boys and young men are ‘clearly horrific’ and that his victims ‘have obviously been failed very, very badly’.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned. Pictured: March 2024
In a statement, Dr Welby said: ‘ Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.’
At the COP29 summit today, Keir Starmer said that findings in the review by Keith Makin that Smyth abused more than 100 boys and young men are ‘clearly horrific’ and that his victims ‘have obviously been failed very, very badly’
John Smyth (pictured) is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England
The Prime Minister said: ‘Let me be clear. Of what I know of the allegations, they are clearly horrific in relation to this particular case and both in their scale and their content and my thoughts, as they are with all of these issues, are with the victims here who have obviously been failed very, very badly.
‘It is a matter in the end for the Church but I am not going to shy away from the fact saying these are horrific allegations and my thoughts are with the victims in relation to it and I think that is very important.’
Pressure had been heaped on Dr Welby after a senior Bishop broke ranks yesterday calling for him to resign immediately.
The Right Reverend Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, said that his position is ‘untenable’ and added: ‘I think he should resign.’
‘I think that it’s very hard for the church, as the national, established church, to continue to have a moral voice in any way, shape or form in our nation, when we cannot get our own house in order,’ she told the BBC.
And she added that while Dr Welby’s resignation is ‘not going to solve the problem’, it would be ‘a very clear indication that a line has been drawn, and that we must move towards independence of safeguarding’.
Meanwhile a petition – started by three members of the Church’s ruling body, the General Synod, and backed by a number of high-profile priests – calling for the Archbishop to resign passed 12,000 signatures this morning.
The petition reads: ‘Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable. We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church.’