Archbishop Of Canterbury Resigns Amid Church Child Abuse Case

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the most senior leader in the Church of England, has resigned over his handling of a child abuse case, according to his official account.

“Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury,” Welby said in a statement on Tuesday.

Pressure had been mounting on Welby in recent days, following an independent review into “sickening abuse” committed by John Smyth, a deceased British lawyer considered the worst serial abuser linked to the Church of England.

The incriminating report, commissioned by the church and released November 7, tracked a “worrying pattern of deference” to Smyth, concluding that “a serious crime was covered up.”

In Welby’s resignation statement, he said the 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,” Welby added. “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

In his statement, the archbishop said the “exact timings” of when he officially leaves office were yet to be decided and would be established “once a review of necessary obligations has been completed.”

It leaves open the possibility that the archbishop will remain in position over the Christmas period, while the process of finding his successor is expected to take many months.Welby, 68, will turn 70 on January 6, 2026, the retirement age for bishops in the Church of England, which meant he only had a little over a year left in post.

Welby, a former oil executive, took up his post in March 2013 and was chosen as a skilled manager alongside his ability to hold different groups in the church together and focus on evangelization. However, disagreements over same-sex relationships have fractured church unity and have tested his authority.

On abuse, he described himself as “ashamed” of the church, although insisted he sought to improve the church’s response including dramatically boosting personnel numbers for its national safeguarding personnel.

Nevertheless, problems persisted, and last year the chair of the church’s safeguarding office resigned.

A resignation by the Archbishop of Canterbury is extremely rare in the church’s history, and a resignation over the handling of abuse is without precedent. Welby’s decision to stand down underlines how the scourge of sexual abuse has damaged the credibility of the church, with accountability demanded of its leaders.

He was accused of abusing his own family members, as well as attendees of evangelical Christian summer camps he helped run for students from Britain’s prestigious private colleges in the 1970s and 1980s.

The church’s review found that there was a “missed opportunity” in 2012 and 2013 by the highest levels of the church to “properly” report him to law enforcement.

The Bishop of Newcastle was the most high-ranking church official to call for Welby’s resignation. On Monday, Helen-Ann Hartley told the BBC that it would be untenable for members of the clergy to “have a moral voice… when we cannot get our own house in order.”

CNN/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma