Abuse survivors, significantly these focused by John Smyth, a outstanding determine who abused younger individuals for many years, expressed reduction at Welby’s resolution, seeing it as a step in direction of accountability.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, non secular chief of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, introduced his resignation on Tuesday following an investigation which revealed he didn’t promptly report serial bodily and sexual abuse by a volunteer in Christian summer time camps.
Pressure on Welby intensified after the investigation’s findings had been revealed final Thursday, sparking outrage over the church’s lack of accountability.
Criticism grew, with Newcastle Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley calling Welby’s place “untenable” whereas a petition circulated throughout the church’s nationwide meeting, urging his resignation.
In a press release, Welby mentioned he believed the resignation was “in the perfect pursuits of the Church of England”.
The strongest response was from the victims of John Smyth, who for 50 years sexually and bodily abused younger males in Christian camps within the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Andrew Morse, a survivor of Smyth’s abuse, mentioned Welby’s resignation was a mandatory step in direction of therapeutic and accountability for the church’s previous failures to handle abuse.
Morse says Welby’s departure represents “a possibility for him to face with the victims of Smyth’s abuse and all of the victims who haven’t been handled appropriately by the Church of England of their abuse instances”.
Welby’s departure highlights the Church of England’s ongoing struggle towards historic sexual abuse.
A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse discovered that the Church of England’s tradition of deference and its help of alleged perpetrators over victims created an surroundings the place abuse might happen unchecked.
