Peter Thomas via Unsplash
CV NEWS FEED // Justin Welby, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, has announced his resignation as head of the Anglican communion following a review of the Church of England’s handling of a harrowing alleged abuse case.
“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth,” Welby said in a statement from the Church of England announcing his resignation. “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,” said Welby, who was installed as archbishop of Canterbury in March 2013.
The resignation comes after the publication of an independent review, conducted by Keith Makin, of the Church of England’s handling of the allegations against the late John Smyth. The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England commissioned the review in 2019.
A Canadian-born British barrister and child abuser, Smyth played a significant role in children’s Christian ministry within the Anglican Church. As chairman of the Iwerne Trust, he was instrumental in raising funds and overseeing the influential Iwerne camps for young kids. He lived in Zimbabwe from 1984 to 2001 before moving to South Africa, where he died in 2018.
An independent report concluded in 2022 that he had inflicted sexual, emotional, spiritual and physical abuse of at least 100 people. The BBC reports that Smyth “was accused of attacking boys at his Winchester home who he had met at a Christian summer camp in Dorset during the 1970s and 1980s.” The Makin report also alleges that Smyth continued to abuse people in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The conclusion of Makin’s review reads: “From July 2013 the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa.”
The review adds: “The conclusion that must be reached is that John Smyth could and should have been reported to the police in 2013. This could (and probably would) have led to a full investigation, the uncovering of the truth of the serial nature of the abuses in the UK, involving multiple victims and the possibility of a conviction being brought against him.”
Welby said in his recent statement that his resignation is what is best for the Church of England.
“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,” he said. “As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.”
He continued: “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.”
Welby asked for prayers for his family and said that he will be meeting victims, as he had pledged.