Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury after ‘failures’ over Church of England sex abuser

20 comments

1. > The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned over a damning report into a barrister thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.

   Now to complete the arduous task of finding a senior leader in the church that didn’t turn away when they should have spoken out.

2. I wonder if those who “notice a pattern” will protest in front of churches for this decade-long coverup that led to a man who sexually abused more than 100 children dying without facing justice.

3. So this guy basically didnt do anything for a decade in terms of reporting SA?

4. > The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned over a damning report into a barrister thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.
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   > Justin Welby had been facing growing pressure to stand down over his “failures” to alert authorities about John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse of children and young men.
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   > In statement, Mr Welby said it was “very clear I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”
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   > He said: “The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.”
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   > In calls urging Mr Welby to quit, a petition by some members of the General Synod – the church’s parliament – gathered more than 10,000 signatures, while a senior bishop issued a public statement describing the church as being “in danger of losing complete credibility” on safeguarding.
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   > Mr Welby had been resisting the calls for him to resign but reiterated “his horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology”.
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   > The Makin review into Smyth’s abuse, published last week, concluded that he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police a decade ago.
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   > Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and so was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said.
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   > Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.
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   > Mr Welby 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” it was “energetically investigated”.
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   > Although Mr Welby knew Smyth because of his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s and “did have reason to have some concern about him”, the review said this was not the same as suspecting he had committed severe abuses and concluded it was “not possible to establish” whether Mr Welby knew of the severity of the abuses in the UK before 2013.
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   > Mr Welby’s resignation comes after the petition described his continuation in the role as “no longer tenable”, while Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley similarly called his position “untenable”.
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   > She told the BBC on Monday that while his resignation is “not going to solve the problem”, it will be “a very clear indication that a line has been drawn, and that we must move towards independence of safeguarding”.
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   > The petition stated: “We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church – and we share this determination across our traditions.”

5. On Tuesday, Mr Welby said it was “very clear I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

   The whole church is responsible. Needs to have a purge of those who knew and said nothing.

6. I hope that this prompts others to consider their position, but the question is who will replace him and what will that mean for a church so divided on so many fronts?

7. Religions all try to hide sex abuse. We’ve seen it lead to the collapse of the RC church here in Ireland. Let’s hope this case leads to the collapse of Anglicanism.

   EDIT: There’s always one. In reply to the 39th step dude “Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.” The word sexual is pretty obvious.

8. C’mon then lads let’s get the flags out and go and protest to protect our kids from these no good child abusing, sex trafficking scumbags who…. oh wait they’re white christians? Nevermind.

9. I think they should opt for a more secular appointment for the successor this time, so I volunteer. He has nice digs, cool robes, lots of wine… Sounds like something I could pull off.

10. Petro dude resigned. Probably going to be a banker next.

11. Disestablish the church and return their assets to the state.

    The tiny remnant if worshippers can lease back the few buildings they actually need for worship.

    Welby is a symptom of a Zombie institution which has no place in Parliament or controlling so many schools and so much wealth. The leadership of that church is full of similiar- it is not a coincidence that Yates was on course for Bishop of London.

    Remove it. Cut the rot.

12. Pretending to be a paragon of virtue can be awkward when it turns out you are anything but. Next time a bishop tells us all how to behave we can just laugh in their face.

13. Every time I point out that this is embedded in all instutionalised religion I get downvoted and told to shut up

    . At best I’m told to focus on the religion that is the problem ‘now’. 

     It’s all religion. Ant organisation that expressly encourages people to not talk about sex, to tell people sex is a sin and that it is bad outside of a very narrow set of boundaries does 2 things.  

     1. It messes up people’s view of sex and for a certain segment of the population it is the steps needed to turn them into monsters.

      2. The culture of silence around sex means that people are abused won’t speak out. 

     This is the tip of the iceberg. Go into any place of worship,start digging and you will find more.

14. Now kick the lot of them from the Houses of Lords. They can’t claim any moral high ground.

15. What is it about religion that makes people want to have sex with children?

16. I’m more shocked by the resignation, than I am by the behaviour that led to the resignation.

17. Wot iz Keith doing to protect arr kidz! First ‘e lets off Jimmy Saville, now this. We shuf of burnd down the cherchs.

18. Welby needs to be asking God where’s the quality control next time he ~~talks to himself~~ prays.

19. Was this related to the Chichester one or was that one an additional decades long grooming event perpetrated and then covered up by the church?

20. Guy who made his living telling lies gets caught telling lies 🤯

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