Too Little, Too Late

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The United Kingdom’s Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned this week following a report that criticized his failure to adequately address sexual abuse allegations within the Church of England, the latest fallout in a decades-long scandal involving widespread abuse by British lawyer John Smyth, CBS News reported.

Smyth, who held leadership roles at Christian summer camps, is accused of abusing more than 100 boys and young men in the UK and Africa over a span of five decades.

Last week, an independent Church of England investigation – known as the Makin Review – detailed the scope of Smyth’s actions, which included inflicting physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual trauma to his victims.

The report also found that church officials, including Welby, had failed to effectively handle complaints about Smyth, saying their responses “were wholly ineffective and amounted to a coverup.”

In his resignation announcement Tuesday, Welby claimed that he only learned of the abuse in 2013, the year he became archbishop.

He had assumed police were informed, but added that “he believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.”

Smyth died in 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa, while he was still under investigation by British authorities.

The outgoing archbishop expressed “shame” over the Church’s failures, admitting he could have done more to prevent “re-traumatizing” survivors.

“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuse of John Smyth,” he noted.

He pledged to meet with victims and delegated his safeguarding responsibilities pending a risk assessment.

His resignation follows mounting pressure from within the Church, including a petition signed by more than 1,500 members calling for his departure.

Church leaders reacted to Welby’s resignation with a mix of support and calls for reform, Sky News wrote.

The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said Welby’s decision was “right and honorable,” The Bishop of London Sarah Mullally emphasized the need for immediate changes to safeguard against future abuse.

Meanwhile, victims expressed relief at the resignation, calling for other bishops who allegedly knew of Smyth’s abuse to resign.