Bishop calls on Justin Welby to resign over Church abuse scandal

Church of England bishops have called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign, calling his position “untenable” following reports of child abusers linked to the Church.

Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley is the most senior member of the Church to call on the Reverend Justin Welby to resign, following the “appalling, appalling and appalling” report.

Mr Welby is facing increasing pressure to resign after emerging that last week he did not follow up rigorously enough on the report of John Smyth QC’s “disgusting” abuse of more than 100 boys and young men.

A review of the Church’s handling of the Smyth case Mr Welby said he “could and should” have reported the case to the authorities when the details were provided in 2013.

Mr Welby admitted he had to follow the details more closely and said last week he had considered stepping down, but decided to stay in the role.

The Makin review to the case Smyth said he could have been brought to justice decades before his death in 2018 if he had been formally reported to authorities in 2013.

Smyth is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser linked to the Church of England, having subjected 130 victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.

Anglican priest Giles Fraser told the BBC the Most Rev Justin Welby had “lost the confidence of the clergy” and three members of the Church’s parliament – the General Synod – had started a petition calling for Mr Welby to resign because of the “failure” of the report. Smyth’s abuse.

“It is difficult to find the words to respond precisely to what the report says,” Bishop Hartley told the BBC.

“I really think people are asking the question ‘Can we trust the Church of England to keep us safe?’ And I think the answer right now is ‘no’,” he said.

Dr. Hartley said it will be difficult for the Church to “continue to have a moral voice” when “we can’t get our own house in order with something as critically important”.

“We are in danger of losing complete credibility on that front,” he added.

He said Mr Welby’s resignation would not “resolve the security issue,” but “is a clear indication that a line has been drawn, and we must move towards independence to maintain it”.

Smyth is accused of assaulting boys at his home in Winchester in the 1970s and 1980s, identifying them at Christian camps he attended and at prominent public schools including Winchester College.

Smyth brought them to his house, he did lashings with a garden cane in the shed.

One of Smyth’s victims, Bishop of Guildford Andrew Watson, was described earlier the “excruciating and shocking” abuse she experienced.

A report detailing Smyth’s abuse was given to several Church leaders in 1982, but no report was made to the police.

He was encouraged to leave the country and move to Zimbabwe and later to South Africa, where the abuse continued in the years he died in 2018.

Smyth is accused of killing a 16-year-old boy at a summer camp. He was not convicted of the offence.

Smyth died aged 75 while being investigated by Hampshire Police.

In a statement, Mr Welby said he was “sorry that this abuse happened” and “sorry that hiding so many people who knew about the abuse over the years meant that John Smyth could have been abused abroad and died before facing justice”.

He added: “I had no knowledge or suspicion of this abuse before 2013.”

A petition calling for Mr Welby’s resignation was created on Saturday by three members of the nearly 500-member General Synod, and is open to anyone to sign online. As of Monday morning it had collected more than 1,500 signatures.

“Given his role in allowing the abuse to continue, we believe that his continued tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer acceptable,” the petition reads.

“We need to see change, for the survivors, to protect the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church.”

Mr Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s Church in Kew, west London, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program Mr Welby “really (should) go”.

Recalling his experience of abuse at school, Mr Fraser said the experience was “very traumatic and stays with you”.

“It happened when I was seven, eight years old – I’m 60 in a few weeks,” he said.

“The idea that people continue to be abused after the Church knows what happened is absurd.”

At the weekend, the bishop who maintains the leadership of the Church said he accepted Mr Welby’s forgiveness – and would not say he should resign.

“I’m really grateful that the Archbishop has sincerely apologized for what he could have done and should have done differently in 2013,” the Rt Rev Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney, told the BBC.

“I also recognize the commitment during my time as Archbishop to really try to change the protection.”

Mr. Welby said he hoped Makin’s review would support the active work of building safer churches here and around the world, and reiterated his “horror at the egregious scale of the abuse of John Smyth, as reflected in the public apology”.

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