Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury besieged by child sex abuse scandal

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welbyprimate of the Church of England, announced this Tuesday his resignation amid pressure from the bishops for not having acted when in 2013 he met a serious case of child abuse within this communion. It is believed that some 130 children were victims of a pedophile, possibly the most prolific associated with the Church of England.

Welby, spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans around the world, said in a statement that assumes responsibility for its management and has stressed that his departure will occur in respect of his institutional and constitutional obligations.

“The last few days have renewed my deep and prolonged sense of shame over historic protection failures of the Church of England,” Welby said in a statement.

“I hope that this decision makes it clear that the Church of England seriously understands the need for a change and our deep commitment to creating a safer church. Upon leaving my position, I do so with regret and with all the victims and survivors of abuses,” added Welby.

The archbishop until now, who had previously ruled out resigning from the position, explained that, as is protocol, He asked King Charles III for permission to do so.head (non-religious) of the Church of England, the majority in the United Kingdom.

An internal investigation released last week – the so-called Makin report– concluded that the Archbishop of Canterbury his inaction made it possible for the alleged crimes to continue committed for decades by the now deceased Canadian lawyer John Smythwhom The sexual, physical and psychological abuse of more than a hundred minors is attributed in his role as a leader of Christian camps.

Welby is reproached for did not immediately refer the case to the authorities when he learned of its existence upon assuming office in 2013.

To the public letter posted last Saturday, he added his voice this Monday Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartleythe most senior person to demand his resignation. The nun called Welby’s position “unsustainable”, who last week acknowledged that she should have acted when she learned of the behavior of Smyth, who died in 2018.

It is believed that this promoter of the camps, who died in South Africa while being investigated by the British Police, was the most prolific pedophile associated with the Church of Englandcradle of Anglicanism in the world.

Priest Giles Fraser, himself a victim of abuse as a child, recently said in a BBC interview that Welby “has lost the confidence of the clergy”while Hartley warned that it will be difficult to “continue to have a voice on morality” under his leadership.

In his note, Welby argued that when he took office in 2013 was informed that the Police were aware of the alleged abuses committed for decades by Christian camp leader John Smyth, and that he “wrongly thought there would be a resolution.”

Thousands of people signed an online petition coordinated by members of the synod or assembly of the Anglican faith where The immediate resignation of the archbishop was requestedand several senior officials added to the pressure in recent days.

Welby’s tenure has spanned a decade of great turmoil within the Church of England, in which he has been forced to sort out disputes over gay rights and women clergy between liberal churches, mainly in North America and Great Britain, and their conservative counterparts, especially in Africa.

As the highest Anglican authority, Welby officiated at the coronation of Charles III in May 2023 and the weddings of Princes William and Harry.