After a prolonged scandal, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rev. Justin Welby will end his duties today after quitting amid an abuse cover-up scandal. However, his interim successor is facing scrutiny in a similar case. Welby announced his intention to resign after a report found he had taken insufficient action to bring to justice one of the institution’s worst abusers.
We reported earlier that, The Makin Review, an independent investigation into the Church of England, dramatically tarnished Welby’s public perception. The report centered on John Smyth, a layman who organized summer camps in England and Zimbabwe. After the report came out, it was confirmed that the Archbishop had neglected to isolate Smyth after he had been accused of abuse.
The Arch Bishop himself issued a statement, where he expressed his regrets. “I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatized, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse and by the far-reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse,” he wrote.
He added “I did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so. It remains the case that I take both personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors.” Welby also insisted that “I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures.”
Welby, who serves as the head of the Church of England and leader of the 85 million Anglicans worldwide, said he must take “personal and institutional responsibility” for a lack of action on the “heinous abuses“. Welby will be replaced by Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the Church’s second most senior cleric. Cottrell is also mired in controversy.
Three weeks ago another report said he had let a priest keep his job despite knowing the Church had barred him from being alone with children, and that he had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim. While Cottrell has apologized for not having acted sooner. He insisted that he suspended the priest, David Tudor, as soon as he could. In October the Church banned Tudor for life from ministry.
The COE’s Christmas celebrations were marked by more scandal. Cottrell said in a Christmas Day address that the Church must “strip off her finery and kneel in penitence and adoration“. Cottrell said, “The Church of England – the Church of England I love and serve – needs to look at this vulnerable child, at this emptying out of power to demonstrate the power of love, for in this vulnerable child we see God.”
Linda Woodhead, head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London, said “The current situation creates a worrying vulnerability for the Church. The Church could soon find itself with no archbishop at the helm.” She concluded that “This would create significant problems, even in the safeguarding realm, let alone other aspects of Church governance.”