Survivors of child abuser John Smyth feared the Archbishop of Canterbury put the reputation of the church over securing justice for the victims.
Justin Welby quit this afternoon following the scandal, admitting he feels ‘shame’ over the way victims of the Church’s most prolific paedophile were let down.
Dr Welby’s decision to resign came just hours after some of those who had been tormented by Smyth had accused the senior religious figure of a ‘cover-up’ in failing to report the pervert to the authorities.
A damning report found that Smyth’s crimes could have been exposed in 2013 if the Archbishop had ensured the police investigated concerns.
Andrew Morse, 63, was abused by Smyth as a teenager and twice tried to take his own life as a result.
Speaking out shortly before Welby stood down, he said: ‘I think it feels like he prioritised his position and the reputation of his church above the plight of the victims and, because Smyth was still alive at that time, above other potential victims as well.’
Andrew Morse, 63, (pictured) was abused by John Smyth as a teenager and twice tried to take his own life as a result
The Archbishop of Canterbury (pictured) admitted to having ‘personally failed’ after an independent review found John Smyth’s ‘abhorrent’ abuse of more than 100 children and young men was covered up in the Church for years
John Smyth (pictured) died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police
Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Morse added: ‘Yes, I do think he should resign.
‘He knew in 2013, he knew the set-up, the victim group and the place where we were groomed, all the way back to the 1980s.’
Smyth, who died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire police, is said to have subjected as many as 130 victims to ‘appalling’ sexual violence.
Mr Morse claimed the Archbishop’s failure to take action in 2013 was a ‘dereliction of duty’ and a betrayal of victims.
The CofE knew ‘at the highest level’ from July 2013 about the abuse the barrister and lay reader had carried out in the late 1970s and early 1980s and Mr Welby was singled out for failing to report Smyth’s abuse to police.
A petition arranged by members of the General Synod – the church’s parliament – has gathered thousands of signatures urging the cleric to stand down over his ‘failures’ to alert the authorities.
Prior to quitting, Mr Welby had also been accused by one high-profile vicar of having ‘lost the confidence of the clergy’, while a bishop called on him to quit to avoid the Church ‘losing complete credibility’ on safeguarding.
The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told the BBC: ‘I think that it’s very hard for the church as the national, the established church, to continue to have a moral voice in any way, shape or form in our nation when we cannot get our own house in order with regard to something as critically important, something that would be asked of any institution – let alone the church, which is meant to have the gospel of Jesus Christ looking out for the most vulnerable in our midst.
‘We are in danger of losing complete credibility on that front.’
In a statement, Dr Welby said: ‘ Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.’
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned. Pictured: March 2024
Of Mr Welby, she said: ‘I think, sadly, his position is untenable, so I think he should resign.’
She said while his resignation is ‘not going to solve the problem’, it would be ‘a very clear indication that a line has been drawn, and that we must move towards independence of safeguarding’.
Mr Welby, speaking to Channel Four when the report was published, said he had been giving resignation ‘a lot of thought for actually quite a long time’.
But he added: ‘I have given it (resigning) a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and, no, I am not going to resign.’
Dr Welby had initially tried to cling on, but was effectively forced to quit after senior colleagues joined criticism and more than 10,000 people signed a petition. Keir Starmer had also pointedly refused to back the Archbishop.
But announcing his resignation this afternoon, Dr Welby said: ‘Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.
‘The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.
‘When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.
‘It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.’
Dr Welby added: ‘The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England.’
Prime Minister Sir Keir declined to give Dr Welby full support on Monday after a senior Bishop called for him to resign, instead saying that it is a ‘matter really for the church’.
However he went a step further today when he was asked about growing calls for the Archbishop to step down while attending Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sir Keir said that findings in the review by Keith Makin that Smyth abused more than 100 boys and young men are ‘clearly horrific’ and that his victims ‘have obviously been failed very, very badly’.
The PM said: ‘Let me be clear. Of what I know of the allegations, they are clearly horrific in relation to this particular case and both in their scale and their content and my thoughts, as they are with all of these issues, are with the victims here who have obviously been failed very, very badly.
‘It is a matter in the end for the Church but I am not going to shy away from the fact saying these are horrific allegations and my thoughts are with the victims in relation to it and I think that is very important.’
Following the petition’s launch, Mr Welby said he ‘reiterates his horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology’, repeated that he does not intend to resign and said he ‘hopes the Makin Review supports the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world’.
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