The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the highest figure in the Anglican Church after King Charles III, has announced his resignation, after admitting his mismanagement in a case of child abuse, hidden for decades and which caused at least a hundred victims. , between the United Kingdom and Africa. “I believe that leaving is best for the Church of England, which I love deeply and which I have had the honor to serve,” he announced.
In a statement released by Lambeth Palace (headquarters of the Church of England), Welby admits that the external report commissioned “has brought to light the long-held conspiracy of silence over the appalling abuses of John Smyth,” a lawyer Christian, now deceased, who abused more than a hundred children in the United Kingdom and Africa, and who was covered up by the Church of England.
The audit points out how Welby himself, who knew the perpetrator, did not act appropriately. “Opportunities were lost to establish whether he continued to pose an abusive threat in South Africa due to these inactions by senior church officials,” the investigation concluded.
“When I was informed in 2013 and told that the police had been notified, I mistakenly believed that an appropriate resolution would follow,” acknowledges Welby, who admits that “I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and traumatizing period between 2013 and 2024”.
“I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our deep commitment to creating a safer Church. “In resigning, I do so with the pain of all victims and survivors of abuse,” concludes the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Francis’s ally for reunification
Welby’s resignation is a serious blow to the Anglican Communion, and also to ecumenical work. The Archbishop of Canterbury was one of Pope Francis’ main supporters for the return to unity of Christian confessions.
Pressure on Welby had been increasing since Thursday, when the independent report found that, at least since 2013, the prelate “could and should” have formally informed the British and South African authorities and did not do so. In fact, some Anglican prelates, such as the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, called his situation “unsustainable”, demanding his resignation having “lost the confidence of his clergy”.
At first Welby admitted that he “had thought” about resigning, but that he had decided not to, although pressure made him announce his retirement. Welby’s resignation comes against a backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England, to the point where several reports called the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide.”
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