The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has resigned following the request of a prominent bishop in the Church of England who claimed his leadership is “untenable” after the release of a harrowing report on John Smyth QC, a serial abuser linked to the Church.
The Makin review, which scrutinized how Church leaders responded to reports of abuse by Smyth, revealed that Welby “could and should” have escalated the case to authorities when he first learned of it in 2013.
Instead, he did not actively pursue the matter, despite knowing that Smyth’s “abhorrent” abuse affected more than 100 boys and young men.
Smyth, a former Church volunteer, had abused up to 130 boys and young men across the UK and Africa over nearly fifty years.
Welby said in a statement that he was stepping down “in the best interests of the Church of England.”
Since the Makin review’s findings were released, calls for accountability have intensified.
Last week, Mr. Welby publicly acknowledged he had “personally failed” to “energetically investigate” the case and admitted he considered resigning but decided against it.
Nevertheless, dissatisfaction persists, with over 7,000 people signing a petition calling for his resignation. Members of the General Synod, the Church’s legislative body, have also accused him of “allowing abuse to continue” from 2013 to 2018.
Smyth, who died in 2018 while under investigation, is considered one of the most prolific serial abusers associated with the Church.
According to the Makin report, Smyth sought out boys at Christian camps and prestigious schools, such as Winchester College, and lured them to his home in Winchester, where he would beat them with a garden cane in a soundproofed shed.
In the UK alone, he abused between 26 and 30 boys in the 1970s and 1980s. He later relocated to Africa, where he targeted and abused at least 85 boys aged 13 to 17.
The Church had knowledge “at the highest level” of Smyth’s abusive actions as early as 2013, according to the report, but failed to report him to the police in the UK or South African authorities.
This inaction, according to the review, constituted a “missed opportunity” to bring Smyth to justice and prevent further harm.
In 2017, Hampshire Police initiated an investigation into Smyth after a Channel 4 documentary brought the abuse allegations to the public’s attention.
Shortly after, Mr. Welby told the broadcaster, “I genuinely had no idea that there was anything as horrific as this going on and the kind of story you showed on the clip. If I’d known that, I would have been very active, but I had no suspicions at all.”
However, the recent review contradicted this claim, stating that “enough was known to have raised concerns” by 2013.
