“I believe it is in my best interest to step down Church of England, whom I love and whom I had the honor to serve,” he said Archbishop Justin Welby quoted by Reuters after he resigned. He made the decision under public pressure when it was published last week Independent reporting by Keith Makinregarding sexual abuse.
King Charles III he accepted the priest's resignation. On Tuesday evening, there was also a reaction from the British government, whose spokesman said that “the Prime Minister Keir Starmer respects the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to resign“.
“Words cannot describe the horror.” More than 100 people were allegedly injured
According to the findings, the Archbishop of Canterbury did not notify law enforcement authorities about what happened during the shooting Christian summer campsduring which he participated lawyer John Smyth. In the 1970s and 1980s, a man molested boys under the pretext of being a pastor. As agreed at least 115 people are said to be injured.
“The abuse at the hands of John Smyth was appalling. Words cannot adequately describe the horror of what happened,” Makin said. At the same time, he thanked the victims for their courage to share what they experienced at the hands of their torturer.
Resignation of Archbishop Justin Welby. “I have to take responsibility”
Archbishop Welby was informed about Smyth's abuses in July 2013when he was already an archbishop.
“When I was informed about them in 2013 and I was told that the police were notifiedI wrongly believed that appropriate solutions would be taken. It is obvious that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long, traumatic period between 2013 and 2024,” said the 67-year-old priest.
Initially, he resisted the pressure and did not resign. Over the following days, the pressure intensified. “At the time of announcement, a petition calling on Archbishop Welby to resign had over 13,000 signatures,” the Church Times reported.
John Smyth died during the inquest
As the Washington Post pointed out, if the priest had reported the case to law enforcement 11 years ago, which he should have done, there would probably have been “a full investigation, revealing the serial nature of abuses in Great Britaininvolving multiple victims, and possibly conviction of the perpetrator“.
According to The Guardian, Archbishop Welby, as a youth, allegedly worked at one of Smyth's summer camps in the late 1970s.
The daily's website presented the torturer as an “eminent British lawyer”. Smyth was never brought to justice because he died during the inquest in 2018 South Africawhere he also allegedly committed abuses.
Welby was ordained in 1992. Previously, he worked in the oil industry for over a decade. In November 2012, he was elected Archbishop of Canterbury. The selection was confirmed on February 4, 2013.
Sources: Reuters, “Washington Post”, “The Guardian”, “Church Times”