The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Church of England's most senior cleric, resigned yesterday, saying he had failed to secure a proper investigation into allegations of abuse by a volunteer at a Christian summer camp decades ago.
Welby, the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, has faced calls to resign after a report published last Sunday found he did not do enough to stop what is arguably the worst serial abuser within the church.
In his resignation letter, Welby said he must take "personal and institutional responsibility" for the lack of response to the "heinous abuses".
"Over the past few days, my long-standing and deep sense of shame has been renewed at the Church of England's historic failures to protect," Welby said. “I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England takes the need for change and our deep commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down, I do so with sadness and compassion for all victims and survivors of abuse."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office announced yesterday that he respects Welby's decision to resign. "The Prime Minister respects the decision," said Starmer's spokesman. "His thoughts are primarily with all the victims," it said.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, the second-ranking priest in the church, called Welby's resignation "the right and honorable thing to do".
Welby's tenure spanned a decade of great turmoil during which he was forced to navigate conflicts over gay rights and women priests between liberal churches, mainly in North America and Britain, and their conservative opponents, especially in Africa.
Anglican churches in African countries such as Uganda and Nigeria are likely to welcome Welby's resignation, after announcing last year that they no longer have confidence in him, Reuters points out.
The main challenges for his successor will be preserving the increasingly divided Anglican Communion around the world and trying to reverse the decline in service attendance, which in Britain has fallen by a fifth since 2019.
Welby, 68, resigned five days after the independent Makkin report singled out his handling of abuse allegations dating back to the 40s. The report states that John Smith, a British lawyer, subjected more than 100 boys and young men to "brutal and horrific" physical and sexual abuse over XNUMX years.
According to the report, Smit hit some of the victims up to 800 times with a stick and gave them diapers to absorb the bleeding. He would then lean on the victims, sometimes kissing them on the neck or back.
He was chairman of the Iverne Foundation, which financed Christian camps in Dorset, England, where Welby worked as a dormitory supervisor before being ordained.
Smit moved to Africa in 1984 and continued the abuse until shortly before his death in 2018, according to the report. The Church of England's highest level learned of allegations of sexual abuse in the camps in 2013, and Velbi became aware of the allegations at the latest that same year, a few months after he became archbishop, the report said.
The report said that if the allegations had been reported to police in 2013, a full investigation could have been carried out and Smith may have faced charges before his death. Makin's report was commissioned in 2019.
Welby apologized for the "omissions and errors," but said he had "no idea or suspicion" about the allegations before 2013. The report concluded that this was unlikely, accusing him of failing to fulfill his "personal and moral responsibility" to ensure a proper investigation.
Church procedures for appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury require a council consisting of priests and a presiding officer, nominated by the British prime minister, to submit two names to him for consideration.
Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, and Gully Frances-Dehkani, Bishop of Chelmsford, are considered Welby's possible successors and candidates for the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. Usher supports gay rights and is vocal about the need to take action against climate change.
Frances-Dehkani was born in Iran and spoke about her brother's assassination after the Iranian Revolution. She would be the first woman in this position.
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