The leader of the global Anglican communion is under increasing pressure to resign following a troubling report that concluded the Church of England concealed a serial abuse case.
Three members of the General Synod, the church’s national assembly, have initiated a petition demanding the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in light of these revelations.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley has emerged as the most senior clergy member to support these calls, stating to the BBC that it would be challenging for the church to “maintain a moral voice” when “we cannot get our own house in order.”
The report unveiled that the Church of England, the mother church of Anglicanism, had a history of failures regarding the “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse perpetrated by John Smyth, a lawyer who organized evangelical summer camps during the 1970s and 1980s.
Smyth, who resided in Africa from 1984, passed away at the age of 75 in South Africa in 2018 while under investigation by British police, and he never faced any criminal charges.
Labelled “arguably the most prolific serial abuser” associated with the church, the independent inquiry revealed that church officials were aware of his abuses by the early 1980s.
Nonetheless, those who were informed “participated in an active cover-up,” which permitted Smyth to continue his abusive behavior for decades, according to the report.
The report stated that Archbishop Welby “could and should” have reported the abuse to authorities in 2013.
After being appointed the Church of England’s highest-ranking cleric that same year, he expressed last week his “deep sorrow that this abuse occurred” and stated he “had no knowledge or suspicion of this abuse” prior to that time.
He mentioned to Britain’s Channel 4 News that he contemplated resigning but ultimately decided against it.
The Makin inquiry also critically evaluated the church’s response to a 2017 Channel 4 expose regarding Smyth’s abuses (stock image).
“If I had known before 2013 or had grounds for suspicion, that would have been a resigning matter then and now. But I didn’t,” he remarked.
However, the petition initiated by three members of the General Synod, which is composed of 483 lay members and clergy, contends that he “held a personal and moral responsibility to pursue this further… which he failed to fulfill.”
“Given his role in enabling the continuation of abuse, we believe that his remaining as Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer sustainable,” it asserts.
By this afternoon, the petition had garnered over 3,000 signatures, while an increasing number of priests voiced their dissent against him.
Giles Fraser, the vicar of St Anne’s Church in southwest London, characterized the situation as “terrible” during an interview with BBC radio.
“Unfortunately, he’s really lost the confidence of his clergy,” he stated.
“He has lost the trust of many of his bishops, and his position is entirely untenable.”
The investigation into Smyth, conducted by former social services chief Keith Makin, concluded that those “at the highest level” within the Church were aware of the extent of his abusive actions since mid-2013.
The failure to alert the police “represented yet another missed opportunity to bring him to justice,” the report noted.
It may have also “resulted in an ongoing and avoidable safeguarding threat during the period between 2012 and his death in 2018.”
The Makin investigation further criticized the church’s reaction to a 2017 Channel 4 expose of Smyth’s abuses, labeling it as “poor in terms of speed, professionalism, intensity, and curiosity.”
