Survivors want more resignations after the Archbishop of Canterbury said he would step down. This is because of the ongoing effects of a damning report into a Church-affiliated child molester.
A study found that Justin Welby “could and should” have told the police about John Smyth’s abuse of boys and young men in 2013. He quit.
The departure, which has never happened before, has shocked the Church and put more pressure on other Church members to say what they knew about abuse.
One bishop in charge of safety said she was willing to accept more resignations, but the Archbishop of York, who is the second most important person in the Church, said they shouldn’t be bishops.
An independent study that came out last week said that Mr. Welby, who is the most senior bishop in the Church of England, and other church officials should have officially reported Smyth to police in the UK and South Africa in 2013.
Smyth was charged with hitting many boys in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s. These boys included ones he met at Christian camps.
The report said that the Church’s inaction was a “missed opportunity” to go after Smyth before he died in 2018.
Julie Conalty, who is the Church’s deputy lead bishop for safety, said she couldn’t promise that there wasn’t still abuse going on in the Church and that no organization “can ever be totally safe.”
Bishop for Birkenhead Mrs. Conalty told Newsline that “maybe other people should go.”
But Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell says they shouldn’t be bishops. He is the second most important person in the Church after Mr. Welby.
“We now know that some people pretty systematically covered this up, and those people need to be brought to account,” he said.
When asked about other resignations, he said that those who “actively covered this up” should go, but that Mr. Welby’s resignation for “institutional failures” was enough.
His words meant that “the current plan” called for independent supervision of safety to be in place by the following year.
At the same time, Bishop of Newcastle Dr. Helen-Ann Hartley said that “the arrogance of a few” was making it harder to change the Church’s safety mindset.
After being told about the abuse for the first time, Mr. Welby said on Tuesday, “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility” for how he responded.
Andrew Watson, Bishop of Guildford, said in 2017 that Smyth beat him. He said it was a “turbulent” time for the Church and that Mr. Welby’s choice showed that he was ready to “take responsibility for the wider Church’s failings.”
In a statement, he said, “On the ground, our churches have continued to make significant improvements in how we protect children.”
Some people who have been abused by the Church have asked that other top members of the Church be questioned about how they handled the Smyth allegations.
Former priest and author Mark Stibbe told Channel 4 News that he thought Mr. Welby had “done the right thing” and that he and other survivors had been calling for years for him to step down.
“I applaud Justin Welby for resigning but what I think the survivor group would like is more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken,” he added.
“If there are senior clergy who have broken the law then they need to be called to account,” he said.
Sky News spoke to another survivor, Richard Gittins, who said that pastors “who kept the stories to themselves” should now be questioned.
In the study about Smyth’s abuse, other bishops are named, such as Stephen Conway, who is currently Bishop of Lincoln.
One of the people who was abused by Smyth said that Bishop Conway did not do enough when he learned about it while he was Bishop of Ely.
Although Conway’s diocese knew about the claims of serious abuse from early 2013, the report said they were “not properly investigated” even though he was in a “potentially powerful position” to make sure they were looked into.
According to a statement, Bishop Conway said he learned about Smyth’s abuse in 2013 and told Lambeth Palace in full. He also called the bishop in South Africa where Smyth had fled.
Archbishop of York stood up for Bishop Conway and told Today that he “was the first person to do something about this.”
He said that the people who “actively covered this up” should step down, but that wasn’t the bishops. He also said that Mr. Welby was to blame for “institutional failings.”
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that Mr. Welby’s choice to step down was “absolutely the right one.” He also said that church leaders shouldn’t “think that just one head rolling solves the problem.”
“There are deep and fundamental issues of not just practice but culture on safeguarding,” he said to Today.
“The culture of cover-up has been part of the problem on serious abuse for far too long,” he said.
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