Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, quit on November 12, 2024, after an outside study showed that the Church of England had failed to handle widespread child abuse properly. John Smyth, a British lawyer who ran Christian summer camps in the UK and other countries in the 1970s and 1980s, did the abuse over a number of years. The newly released review showed that even though many people tried to bring Smyth’s actions to light, the Church leaders did nothing. This meant that the abuse was hidden, and Smyth was able to continue doing bad things in the UK and around the world.
The review found that Smyth had abused more than 100 boys and young men who were in his care. He used his power to hurt them physically, sexually, mentally, and spiritually. Even though many people tried to tell the Church about what he was doing, the Church’s reaction was either careless or completely ignored him. After Smyth died in South Africa in 2018, he was never charged with a crime. This meant that he could never be punished. But the review’s results show that the Church’s failure to stop Smyth’s abuse made it easier for him to keep doing it.
When he announced his resignation, Welby said he felt truly sorry for the Church’s mistakes and said that the review’s results had had a big impact on him. In his speech, he talked about how ashamed he was that the Church couldn’t protect the weak. It was also said that when he became Archbishop in 2013, he was told about the abuse claims, but he didn’t do enough to look into them and fix the problem. He said that he had been working hard for almost twelve years to make changes that would really protect people, but that other people would have to decide how successful his efforts were.
Victims, survivors, and church leaders all gave harsh criticism that led to the departure. Andy Morse, one of the survivors who had been abused by Smyth as a teen, asked Welby to step down. Morse said he thought that more victims could have been saved if Welby had been more bold in 2013 when the abuse claims were brought to his attention. He said that the fact that Welby admitted he hadn’t done enough showed that the Church as a whole was broken. “The fact that Welby admitted he didn’t do enough in 2013, a time when this could have been addressed more rigorously, makes it clear that he, along with countless other Anglican churchmen, were complicit in a cover-up,” Morse said to the BBC.
The scandal has cast a shadow over Welby’s whole time as Archbishop, during which he performed many public and ceremonial tasks, such as leading the sermon at Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral and officiating at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Now, these well-known events seem very different from the worse parts of his leadership, especially the way the Church treated these abuse claims badly. The Church of England is still trying to fix its history of abuse and rebuild trust with its followers. Welby’s departure is a major turning point in that process.
It was clear from Welby’s words that he understood how much pain the victims were in saying that the Church should have been a safe place for them to feel God’s love but instead they were abused in places where they should have felt safe. And even though he admitted these mistakes, many people are still angry and don’t believe the institution, which is made worse by how big the cover-up was.
A lot of victims and supporters have spoken out against the resignation, which has also raised tough questions about the Church’s role in letting these abuses go on for so long. Even though there were many chances to help over the years, the Church’s leaders seemed more interested in keeping their good name than in making sure the victims got justice. For many, this is just another episode in a long history of institutional cover-ups, where the needs of the weak were ignored so that power and status could stay in the institution.
It will be very hard for the Church of England to fix its image and win back the faith of its members. Many people still don’t know if they can trust the Church to stop abuse in the future and hold those guilty accountable. The complaints from many sources, including church leaders like Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle, shows how worried many people are about the Church’s ability to protect those in its care properly. The bishop said that a lot of people are asking themselves, and they are right to ask, if they can trust the Church to keep them safe. The bishop said that the clear answer is “no.”
It was not possible to get an answer from the Church of Nigeria or the Christian Association of Nigeria. Korede Akin, the Communication Officer for the Church of Nigeria, wouldn’t say anything about it because Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, who is the Primate of the Anglican Communion, was the only one who could give an official statement. Abimbola Ayuba, who is the Director of National problems and Social Welfare for the Christian Association of Nigeria, said that only the CAN President could talk about international problems because he was in charge of national issues and social welfare. It was also impossible to get in touch with other religious leaders, including those from the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. This shows that these religious groups are not responding to the scandal with quick comments or support.
As the Church of England deals with the effects of this scandal, it will need to make big changes toward reform and openness if it wants to regain any respect. People who were abused, people who survived, and people who don’t like the Church are all closely watching to see if this crisis will lead to real change or if it will just be another episode in its long history of abuse and cover-ups.
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