Archbishop of Canterbury in UK faces calls to resign over handling of abuse allegations

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) – Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is facing mounting pressure to resign after allegations that he failed to adequately address abuses perpetrated by John Smyth, a prominent barrister and evangelical figure accused of abusing dozens of young boys.

Smyth’s actions, described as "prolific, brutal, and horrific" in a recent independent report, took place in the UK and later in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The report by Keith Makin accuses senior leaders within the Church of England (C of E) of a cover-up, further spotlighting Archbishop Welby’s role and knowledge of the events.

A petition, signed by more than 1,500 people as of Monday, has been launched by members of the C of E’s General Synod, calling on Welby to resign “given his role in allowing abuse to continue.”

The petition says the report revealed “serious failures in the culture, structures, and leadership of the C of E,” with Welby explicitly held responsible for those failures.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, London vicar Giles Fraser emphasized that Welby has "lost the confidence of clergy" and that the church is now at a critical juncture in addressing a culture of deference and internal protection among its senior leadership.

"This needs to be our watershed moment in the church, where we look at the culture of deference, the way in which many of our senior leadership rally to defend each other," Fraser said.

The pressure on Welby follows the release of the Makin report, which found that the C of E was aware of Smyth’s abusive practices at the highest levels but failed to act.

The report documents how the church’s response to Smyth’s actions, which involved severe physical abuse of young boys attending evangelical Christian holiday camps, was "wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up."

Archbishop Welby, who volunteered at the camps organized by Iwerne Trust in the late 1970s, has publicly apologized, acknowledging "profound failures and omissions" on his part and the church’s broader failings.

While he has previously claimed that he was unaware of Smyth’s abuse at the time, the Makin report suggests it was "unlikely" that Welby would not have heard rumors given his role at the camps.

Welby acknowledged that he became aware of the allegations in 2013, several years before Smyth’s death in 2018, but did not act decisively, a decision he has since called "shameful."

Despite widespread calls for accountability and Welby's own admission that he pondered stepping down, Lambeth Palace issued a statement on Monday confirming that he "does not intend to resign."

The statement emphasized Welby’s "profound apologies" for his personal shortcomings and those of the C of E, but it made no further comment on the calls for his resignation.

The scandal centers around Smyth’s abuse of an estimated 130 boys, many of whom were pupils at Winchester College, one of the UK’s top public schools, and attendees of the evangelical camps.

Smyth allegedly beat the boys viciously in his garden shed, and although high-ranking members of the C of E reportedly knew of his actions, little effort was made to pursue the case.

The revelation has sparked wider debates within the church and among its followers about the C of E’s leadership and the culture of secrecy that allowed abuse to continue unchecked.

Calls for Welby’s resignation reflect not only dissatisfaction with his handling of the Smyth case but also a deeper concern over how abuse cases are addressed within the church’s upper echelons.