Justin Welby has laid down his staff in his final act as The Archbishop of Canterbury after standing down over failures in handling the Church of England child sexual abuse scandal.
Almost two months after announcing his resignation, Mr Welby, 69, officially quit the role on Monday.
It follows an independent review which concluded barrister and Christian camp leader John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.
Mr Welby is said to of spent the day in privacy at his London residence, Lambeth Palace, before attending a lunchtime Eucharist and later a service of Evensong.
It is during the latter that he laid down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial long staff – in a symbolic act which marked the official end of his ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Pictures show Mr Welby kneeling with the crozier in hand, and another with his head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped in prayer after it had been set on the altar.
Lambeth Palace said he had met friends, staff and former colleagues throughout the day, and expressed his gratitude for their dedication, support, and partnership through the years.
The Archbishop has made few public appearances since mid-November, and did not give the traditional Christmas Day sermon from Canterbury Cathedral.
Justin Welby has laid down his staff in his final act as The Archbishop of Canterbury after standing down over failures in handling the Church of England child sexual abuse scandal
Almost two months after announcing his resignation, he officially quit the role on Monday
Pictures show Mr Welby kneeling with the crozier in hand, and another with his head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped in prayer after it had been set on the altar
While in his initial resignation statement on November 12 he said he was stepping down ‘in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse’, he had to issue an apology later that month following his final speech in the House of Lords.
On that occasion he was accused of making light of serious safeguarding failures in the Church, with an abuse survivor branding the speech – which referenced a 14th century beheading and prompted laughter from some peers – ‘tone deaf’.
In recent weeks a major charity, The Children’s Society, also rejected a Christmas donation from Mr Welby saying that accepting it ‘would not be consistent with the principles and values that underpin our work’.
From Tuesday, most of the official functions normally held by the Archbishop of Canterbury will be delegated to the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell while some will go to the Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally, and the diocesan functions will be carried out by the Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin.
Mr Cottrell has also faced calls to resign over his handling of a separate abuse case but, appearing to reject those calls in recent weeks, he has pledged to ‘do what I can’ to bring about independent scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church.
The process to replace Mr Welby is expected to take months, with an announcement about a new archbishop of Canterbury possible in autumn.
Justin Welby ceases to hold the leading role within the Church from midnight, with the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell taking temporary charge.
But Mr Cottrell has faced his own calls to resign over mishandling of safeguarding, after revelations that a priest at the centre of a sexual abuse case was twice re-appointed under him while he was serving as Bishop of Chelmsford.
While in his initial resignation statement on November 12 he said he was stepping down ‘in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse’, he had to issue an apology later that month following his final speech in the House of Lords
During the service of Evensong, Mr Welby laid down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial long staff – in a symbolic act which marked the official end of his ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby (right) ceases to hold the leading role within the Church from midnight, with the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell (left) taking temporary charge
He has acknowledged things ‘could have been handled differently’ but, appearing to reject calls to quit, has pledged to ‘do what I can’ to bring about independent scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church.
Meanwhile, a campaigner and abuse survivor has said safeguarding in the Church of England must undergo ‘complete reform’.
Lucy Duckworth, a Church abuse survivor and policy adviser at The Survivors Trust, told the PA news agency there remains ‘a question for those within the Church as to whether they have trust and faith that previous actions have been acceptable’.
She added: ‘The Church now has a new leader whose record on safeguarding has also been called into question, like Justin Welby’s was.’
Mr Welby announced his resignation in November, following days of pressure after the publication of an independent review which concluded barrister and Christian camp leader John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.
Ms Duckworth said nothing less than complete reform of how the Church handles safeguarding when it comes to child abuse will do.
She said: ‘We know there is now such a problem (with safeguarding in the Church), we need to stop focusing the failures on individual leaders and start looking at complete reform of safeguarding within the Church of England.
‘The only way to do that is for independent safeguarding and that’s going to be voted on in February at Synod (the Church’s parliament).
‘We trust that Stephen Cottrell and all of the bishops will be voting for that in full.’