Justin Welby faces calls to resign (Image: Getty)
The Archbishop of Canterbury is under increasing pressure to resign over a damning report into a barrister believed to have been the most prolific serial abuser linked with the Church of England.
A petition launched by three members of the General Synod, calling for Mr Welby to quit hit more than 10,000 signatures on Tuesday (November 12).
Mr Welby apologised after the Makin Review concluded John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted the authorities in 2013.
The review report published last week said Smyth, who died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, was “never brought to justice for the abuse”.
Justin Welby has acknowledged that after Smyth’s abuse was subject to wider exposure in 2013 the review found he had “personally failed to ensure” it was “energetically investigated”. But at the time of writing, he has insisted he will not resign.
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British barrister John Smyth abused over 100 children and young men, a report found (Image: Channel 4 News/UNPIXS)
What did the review find?
The shocking Makin Review report found Smyth’s “abhorrent” abuse of more than 100 children and young men had been covered up within the Church of England for years.
The report authors said while some 30 boys and young men are known to have been directly physically and psychologically abused in the UK – and around 85 boys and young men physically abused in African countries, including Zimbabwe – the total “likely runs much higher”.
Despite his “appalling” actions having been identified as long ago as the 1980s, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.
It stated: “John Smyth is, arguably, the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.”
Keith Makin, who led the independent review, said: “Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up.”
The review, commissioned a year after Smyth’s death by the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, found that an argument had been made that the abuses were “examples of over-enthusiastic corporal punishment”.
But the report stated: “The conclusion of the Review is that he committed criminal acts of gross abuse.”
“Further abuse could and should have been prevented. John Smyth’s victims were not sufficiently supported by the Church and their views on escalating his abuse to the police and other authorities were not sought.”
The report stated that the Church of England knew “at the highest level” from July 2013 about the abuse Smyth had carried out in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
It said: “John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa.
“This represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice and may have resulted in an ongoing and avoidable safeguarding threat in the period between 2012 and his death in 2018.”
The Archbishop knew Smyth because of his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, but the review said there was no evidence he had “maintained any significant contact” with the barrister in later years.
Justin Welby insists he had no knowledge of the abuse prior to 2013 (Image: Getty)
How have the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury responded?
In a joint statement, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell, and the national director of safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, said they were “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse inflicted by the late John Smyth and its lifelong effects, already spanning more than 40 years”.
They added: “We know that no words can undo the damage done to people’s lives both by him and by the failure of individuals in the Church and other institutions to respond well.”
They welcomed the report’s 27 recommendations and vowed to “consider them now in detail, noting work already under way”.
They added: “Every member of the Church is responsible for a culture in which victims are heard, responded to well, and put first: there is never a place for covering up abuse.”
Mr Welby said he had “no idea or suspicion” of the abuse before 2013, but acknowledged the review had found that after its wider exposure that year he had “personally failed to ensure” it was investigated.
He said he was “deeply sorry” the abuse happened and was sorry that concealment by many people who were fully aware of the abuse over many years meant that John Smyth was able to abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice.
He added: “I had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013. Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated.
“Since that time the way in which the Church of England engages with victims and survivors has changed beyond recognition. Checks and balances introduced seek to ensure that the same could not happen today.”
Mr Welby also apologised for failing to meet victims soon enough, and the review noted that “promises by Justin Welby to meet with victims were not followed through in any meaningfully helpful period of time”.
The General Synod says Justin Welby’s position is ‘untenable’ (Image: Getty)
Who is calling for Justin Welby to resign?
The General Synod’s petition says of Mr Welby: “Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable.
“We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church-and we share this determination across our traditions.
“With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now.”
Giles Fraser, Vicar of St Anne’s in Kew, west London, described it as a “terrible situation”, telling the BBC: “I’m afraid he’s really lost the confidence of his clergy, he’s lost the confidence of many of his bishops and his position is completely untenable.”
Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, said the Church of England risks losing its “moral voice” if the situation persists. She told the BBC: “I think that it’s very hard for the church as the national, the established church, to continue to have a moral voice in any way, shape or form in our nation when we cannot get our own house in order.”
Mark Stibbe, who was abused by John Smyth QC in the 1980s, told Newsnight on Monday (November 11) that Mr Welby’s position was “untenable”.
He said: “I honestly don’t believe that Justin Welby can continue – I don’t believe that his position is tenable. I would also apply that to the bishops that knew and did nothing, and the senior clergy of the Church of England that knew and did nothing. Their positions are also untenable.”
Father Alex Frost, Vicar of St Matthew’s Church Burnley and a General Synod member for Blackburn Diocese, told Times Radio on Monday night that the Church of England’s handling of Smyth’s abuse has caused “devastating” damage to the institution.
