Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has “lost the confidence of his clergy” after a damning report found the Church of England covered up sexual abuse by a barrister.
Mr Welby is coming under increasing pressure to resign over his “failures” to alert authorities about John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse of children and young men.
A vicar within the church said the situation was “terrible” and Mr Welby’s position was “completely untenable” – while a petition by some members of the General Synod, the church’s parliament, has gathered more than 1,500 signatures urging the Archbishop to stand down.
The independent Makin review into Smyth’s abuse was published last week, concluding he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police a decade ago.
Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and so was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said.
Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.
The Archbishop said he had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse” before 2013 but acknowledged the review had found that after its wider exposure that year he had “personally failed to ensure” it was “energetically investigated”.
Mr Welby knew Smyth because of his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, but the review said there was no evidence he had “maintained any significant contact” with the barrister in later years.
‘We must see change’
The petition by church members states: “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 – and we share this determination across our traditions.
“With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now.”
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Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s in Kew, west London, described it as a “terrible situation”, telling BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “There’s a petition going round now, which many people are signing and this is from all parts of the church.
“I’m afraid he’s really lost the confidence of his clergy, he’s lost the confidence of many of his bishops and his position is completely untenable.”
Mr Welby, speaking to Channel 4 when the report was published, said he had been giving resignation “a lot of thought” – but added he had “taken advice” from senior colleagues and insisted: “I am not going to resign”.
Despite Smyth’s actions having been identified in the 1980s, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.
The Church has said it is “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse” and added “there is never a place for covering up abuse”.
