Vicars have launched a petition urging the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign for ignoring sexual abuse, and a senior bishop has refused to defend him.
Archbishop Justin Welby admitted last week that he “personally failed” the countless victims of sexualized beatings by evangelical lawyer John Smyth by failing to report him to police in 2013, when his crimes were clear.
Critics say the failure left the prolific sadist free to continue abusing children after fleeing Britain in Christian camps in southern Africa until his death in 2018.
The archbishop worked in the ‘Bash’ camps in England, where Smyth prepared his victims 40 years ago.
And a growing number of clergy are saying the apology is insufficient, following a high-profile Church of England report last week that called out the Archbishop for failing to report the “most prolific child abuser” in its ranks to the police. in 2013.
The independent review said Smyth’s “abhorrent” abuse of more than 100 children and young people was covered up in the Church for years.
The so-called Makin Report also said it was “unlikely” that Archbishop Welby was unaware of concerns about Smyth from 1981.
Justin Welby (pictured) admitted he “personally failed” the countless victims of sexualized beatings by evangelical lawyer John Smyth.
An independent review published earlier this week said John Smyth’s (pictured) abuse of more than 100 children and young people was covered up in the Church for years.
Yesterday, an online petition calling for his resignation surpassed 800 signatories.
The petition was launched by the vicar of St Mary’s, Kilburn, and Labor councillor, Reverend Robert Thompson, saying: “Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe his continuance as Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable.”
“Sadly, we do not believe there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to begin now.”
As online signatures and attacks on the bishop by clergy mounted, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, the Bishop of Stepney, Dr Joanne Grenfell, spoke on the leading religious news program yesterday from BBC Radio 4 on Sunday.
To the surprise of veteran presenter Ed Stourton, she failed, on several occasions, to say that the archbishop should remain in office in the wake of the scandal.
When asked directly by the broadcaster whether Archbishop Welby should resign or not, Bishop Grenfell said: “I really appreciate that the Archbishop has apologized wholeheartedly for what he could and should have done differently in 2013.
“I also recognize his commitment during his tenure to really trying to change protection. I think there’s still a lot to do, but I think that’s based on some of the changes we’ve seen over the last ten years.”
The petition was launched by the vicar of St Mary’s, Kilburn and Labor councillor, Revd. Robert Thompson
The archbishop apologized on behalf of the Church in 2017 when the allegations became public.
He also personally apologized in 2021 to Smyth’s victims after meeting them.
Asked why he could not give a direct “Yes” or “No” to the question of whether the archbishop should resign, the bishop said: “I support the archbishop’s apology, I am glad he did.”
He added that beyond the sexual abuse at the center of the case, “I fully understand that this also has to do with the choice to cover up and the failure to reveal what should have been revealed, and I absolutely believe that people need to take responsibility for that.” “. ‘
Broadcaster Reverend Giles Fraser, known for his position as a panelist on Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, said in a tweet: “I was beaten at school in the same way as many of Smyth’s victims were. Going to bed with blood-soaked underwear night after night.
‘To say I’m angry about the cover-up in the church is an understatement.
“I think it seems increasingly unlikely that the Archbishop of Canterbury can survive in office given the growing chorus of calls for his resignation among his own clergy.”
The vicar of Charlbury in Oxfordshire, the Reverend Fergus Butler Gallie, wrote in an open letter to the archbishop published online: ‘We will continue to pray for you, but I, for one, will pray that you resign.
‘Those things you did and did not do inflicted such damage on you (that) it may never heal…if you do not go for reasons of your own shame or shame, for the love of God and Him alone, go.’
The vicar of Christ Church, New Malden, south-west London, Stephen Kuhrt, wrote in an online article: ‘Now is not the time for classic Anglican bungling, so he decides to retire in the coming weeks.
“He should resign specifically on the basis of his response to the John Smyth case and reject the usual peerage awarded to former archbishops.”
And after it was pointed out that Archbishop Welby suspended Lincoln Bishop Christopher Lowson in 2019 for mishandling of safeguarding, Father Chris Phillips of All Saints, Benhilton, south London, suggested a formal complaint could be drawn up. or a motion of censure.
The archbishop said last week that he had “thought a lot” about resigning, but claimed that “senior colleagues” advised him not to do so.
Last night a spokeswoman for the Archbishop said: ‘The Archbishop reiterates his horror at the scale of John Smyth’s appalling abuse, as reflected in his public apology.
‘He has apologized profusely both for his own failures and omissions and for evil, concealment and abuse by the wider church.
As he himself has said, he had no knowledge or suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013 and therefore, upon reflection, has no intention of resigning.
‘He hopes that Makin Review will support the work underway to build a safer church here and around the world.