The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is facing mounting pressure to resign following revelations of a cover-up involving widespread abuse within the Church of England. An independent report has unveiled that the church failed to act on allegations against John Smyth, a barrister accused of abusing numerous boys and young men.
Despite Welby’s claims of ignorance prior to 2013, the report suggests otherwise leading to mounting calls for his resignation.
Helen-Ann Hartley, one of the church’s 108 bishops who is the most senior person in the has called for Welby to resign adding that his position was now untenable.
A petition clamouring for his departure – kickstarted by three members of the Church’s governing body, the General Synod – has received more than 2,900 signatures.
Smyth, who died in 2018, was held responsible for the violent abuse of about 115 children and young men in England, Zimbabwe and South Africa, including flogging.
Welby has apologised for “failures and omissions” in not properly investigating the claims, especially after a documentary by Britain’s Channel 4 in 2017 showed the full extent of the abuse.
Welby had been a spiritual leader to 85 million Christians worldwide and had led the church during a period of major upheaval, forced to navigate a chasm over homosexual rights and women clerics between liberal churches in North America and Britain, and their conservative counterparts in Africa especially.
A conservative group of Anglican church leaders declared last year that they no longer had confidence in Welby, saying he had betrayed his ordination, after the church set out plans to permit priests to bless same-sex couples in church, even though they were not allowing them to marry in church.
The 68-year-old has also been bashed for commenting on government policies including the former Conservative government’s plan to extradite asylum seekers to Rwanda.
