Anglican church head urged to resign over abuse scandal

The leader of the world’s Anglican communion faced growing pressure on Monday to resign after a damning report which concluded the Church of England had covered up a serial abuse case.

Three members of the General Synod, the Church’s national assembly, have started a petition demanding that Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby quit in the wake of the revelations.

It found the Church had repeatedly failed to act over “abhorrent” abuse carried out by John Smyth, a lawyer who organised evangelical summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s.

He is believed to have attacked as many as 130 boys and young men, beginning at his home in southern England after grooming them at the camps.

Dozens are believed to have been abused in African countries, after Smyth relocated to Zimbabwe in 1984 and then South Africa in 2001, according to the report.

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The extent of the abuse makes him the most prolific known serial abuser associated with the Church.

The findings of the long-awaited independent review into the case found that Welby “could and should” have formally reported the abuse to authorities in 2013.

Smyth died aged 75 in South Africa in 2018 while under investigation by British police and never faced any criminal charges.

Welby, the Church of England’s highest-ranking cleric, said last week he was “deeply sorry that this abuse happened” and that he “had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013” when he became archbishop.

Anglican church head continuing ‘no longer tenable’

He told Britain’s Channel 4 News that he had considered resigning but decided not to.

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“If I’d known before 2013 or had grounds for suspicion, that would be a resigning matter then and now. But I didn’t,” he told the broadcaster.

However, the petition by three members of the General Synod — which comprises 483 lay members and clergy — urges Welby to step down.

It argues that Welby “held a personal and moral responsibility to pursue this further… which he failed to fulfil”.

“Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable,” it adds.

By Monday morning, it had garnered nearly 2,000 signatures, while a growing number of priests were speaking out against him.

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Giles Fraser, the vicar of St Anne’s Church in southwest London, told BBC radio on Monday it was “a terrible situation”.

“I’m afraid he’s really lost the confidence of his clergy,” he said.

“He’s lost the confidence of many of his bishops, and his position is completely untenable.”

In another BBC interview Sunday, Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell refused to endorse retaining Welby in his role.

“I really appreciate that the archbishop has wholeheartedly apologised for what he could have and should have done differently in 2013,” she said, before adding: “I think there’s still an awful lot to do”.

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– By: © Agence France-Presse