Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has admitted he “got it wrong” over the handling of child sex abuse allegations. He said he failed to manage the situation due to the “overwhelming” scale of the accusations facing the Church of England. Mr Welby resigned from his position on November 12 last year after an independent review found allegations against the serial abuser and Christian camp leader John Smyth to have been handled inadequately.
It said that he might have been brought to justice had the ex-Archbishop reported him to police five years before his death. Smyth, who was prolifically involved in the Church of England, subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks”.
This week the former Archbishop repeated his apologies for failing to ensure the crimes were investigated. Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, he said: “Every day more cases were coming across the desk that … in the past hadn’t been dealt with adequately, and this was just, it was another case. And, yes, I knew Smyth – but it was an absolutely overwhelming few weeks.
“It was overwhelming. One was trying to prioritise – but I think it’s easy to sound defensive over this. The reality is I got it wrong. As archbishop, there are no excuses.”
However, one of Smyth’s victims told the broadcaster: “No one should be too busy to deal with a safeguarding disclosure.”
Andrew Graystone, an advocate for victims and survivors of Smyth’s abuse, explained how his experience, and that of the victims he speaks with, “is that the church is still overwhelmed”.
“After 12 years of Justin Welby’s leadership there is very little improvement in the way that senior church leaders understand and care for victims,” he said.
Mr Welby’s failings were not isolated, with Winchester college, where many of Smyth’s victims attended, banned him from the premises but did not report him to the police.
Similarly, an abuse case in Zimbabwe, where Smyth relocated to, was dismissed – although he was removed as church leader.
The first abuse allegation publicly made against him was made in 2017, a year before Smyth died in South Africa.