Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned amid a Church abuse scandal involving John Smyth, a prolific child abuser associated with the Church of England.
Gatekeepers News reports that a damning report exposed a “long-maintained conspiracy of silence” about Smyth’s heinous abuses, prompting Welby’s resignation.
In his statement, Welby acknowledged his failure to ensure a proper investigation into Smyth’s abuses, which affected over 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps.
“I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow” after being informed of Smyth’s report to police in 2013, Welby said.
Welby took personal and institutional responsibility for the delayed justice.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”
Smyth passed away in South Africa in 2018 without facing justice.
