The left-wing Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced Tuesday that he will resign from his post following accusations of a Church of England cover-up of child sex abuse.
“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. As I step down, I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse,” Welby, the de facto head of the Church of England since 2013, said in a statement.
An independent review last week found that over 130 boys are believed to have been sexually and physically abused by the late John Smyth QC, who led Church of England summer camps in the 1970s and 80s. He is also accused of carrying out thousands of lashings against young boys, the BBC reported.
Smyth, who died at the age of 77 in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018, may have been brought to justice were it not for the failure of Archbishop Welby to report allegations of child sex abuse to the police, according to the Makin report.
“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 report said.
The report sparked widespread calls for Welby’s resignation, including from Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley, who accused him of “allowing abuse to continue” between when the Church was informed of the allegations and Smyth’s death in 2018.
“I think rightly people are asking the question, ‘Can we really trust the Church of England to keep us safe?’ And I think the answer at the moment is ‘no’,” she said on Monday.
The pressure finally saw Welby resign on Tuesday, writing in a statement: “Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Welby maintained that he believed that after the Chruch became aware of the allegations against Smyth, he “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,” he said.
“I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.”
Welby, who has served as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury since 2013, has also been heavily criticized during his tenure for inserting his woke ideology into political debates in Britain.
The archbishop, for instance, frequently argued against government attempts to clamp down on illegal migration into the UK and argued in support of “welcoming” alleged refugees who break into the country illegally by crossing the English Channel from France.
A strong advocate of “social justice”, Welby has previously prostrated himself for having “white advantage” and “straight advantage” and declared that he was “ashamed” of British history during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. He also launched a campaign to purge churches of supposedly offensive statues and movements from the colonial era.
The archbishop also inserted woke ideology into religious conversations, declaring that God is “gender neutral“.
Following his resignation, Brexit boss Nigel Farage remarked: “Archbishop Welby has gone, thank the Lord. Perhaps the Anglican Church will now appoint a leader that believes in Christian values?”
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