Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over handling of church abuse case

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has announced he will resign after facing mounting pressure to quit over his handling of the John Smyth abuse case.

Last week, a review concluded that barrister John Smyth QC had abused more than 100 children and young men in the UK and Africa over five decades.

Smyth died in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police. He was 75 years old at the time of his death.

Smyth is thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church.

It also found Welby, who knew Smyth through his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, “could and should” have formally reported the abuse to authorities in 2013.

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” that it was “energetically investigated”.

Smyth is accused of inflicting physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks on as many as 130 boys and young men, across five decades in three different countries.

Ahead of Welby’s resignation, three members of the General Synod launched a petition for the Archbishop to resign, which received more than 10,000 signatures.

Welby previously said he had considered standing down last week but decided against it.

Following the petition’s launch, his spokesman said he “reiterates his horror at the scale of Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology”.

Welby “hopes the Makin Review supports the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world”, the statement continued.

When asked if Welby should resign, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declined to give an answer, and said it was a matter for the Church.