Archbishop of Canterbury faces calls to resign over delays in reporting child sex abuse scandal

[Episcopal News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is facing increasing pressure to resign after a review of the Church of England’s handling of a sprawling child sex abuse scandal concluded in part that Welby “could and should” have reported the allegations to authorities a decade ago when he first learned of them.

The controversy centers around an investigation into abuse allegations against John Smyth, accused of “prolific, brutal and horrific” attacks on more than 100 boys and young men while they were attending Christian camps in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  The independent investigation was commissioned in 2019 by the church’s National Safeguarding Team. Its findings were published and released last week, on Nov. 7.

“Despite considerable efforts by individuals to bring to the attention of relevant authorities the scope and horror of Smyth’s conduct, including by victims and by some clergy, the steps taken by the Church of England and other organizations and individuals were ineffective and neither fully exposed nor prevented further abuse by him,” the investigative report says.

On the day of the report’s release, Welby issued a public apology for failing to ensure that “the awful tragedy was energetically investigated” and for not meeting quickly with Smyth’s victims. He also issued an assurance that “checks and balanced introduced seek to ensure that the same could not happen today.”

Welby and other top Church of England officials first became aware of the abuse allegations against Smyth in August 2013, the report says, but “there was a distinct lack of curiosity shown by these senior figures and a tendency towards minimization of the matter, demonstrated by the absence of any further questioning and follow up.”

Police opened a criminal investigation of Smyth in 2017 in response to information made public that year in a TV documentary, according to BBC News. Smyth died in 2018 at age 75. At the time, he reportedly was in Zimbabwe and in the process of being extradited to face charges in England.

On Nov. 11, the Rt. Rev. Helen-Ann Hartley, bishop of Newcastle, became one of the most senior church officials calling for Welby’s resignation.

“I think that it’s very hard for the church, as the national, established church, to continue to have a moral voice in any way, shape or form in our nation, when we cannot get our own house in order with regard to something as critically important [as abuse],” Hartley told the BBC.

Separately, a member of the Church of England’s General Synod, the Rev. Robert Thompson, launched a petition drive on Change.org calling for Welby to step down. As of late Nov. 11, it had received more than 7,000 virtual signatures.

Episcopal News Service contacted Welby’s press office at Lambeth Palace seeking comment. Lambeth Palace responded with what it said was a spokesperson’s latest statement.

“The archbishop reiterates his horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology,” the statement read. “He has apologized profoundly both for his own failures and omissions, and for the wickedness, concealment, and abuse by the church more widely.”

Welby, according to the statement, “had no awareness or suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013” and does not intend to resign. He hopes, however, that the investigative report will support “the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world.”

The archbishop of Canterbury, in addition to serving as the head of the Church of England, also historically has filled the role of a “focus for unity” in the wider Anglican Communion and its 41 autonomous, interdependent provinces, including The Episcopal Church.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.