A Church of England bishop has called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign, calling his position “untenable” after a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church.
Mr Welby is facing mounting pressure to resign after it emerged last week that he did not follow up rigorously enough on reports of John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse of more than 100 boys and young men.
A review of the Church’s handling of Smyth’s case said the archbishop “could and should” have reported the case to authorities when details were presented to him in 2013.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley is the most senior member of the Church to call on Justin Welby to stand down, after others accused him of “allowing abuse to continue” between 2013 and Smyth’s death in 2018.
Mr Welby acknowledged last week that the review made clear he had “personally failed” to “energetically investigate”, and said he had considered resigning, but decided to stay in his role.
The Makin review into Smyth’s case said he might have been brought to justice for decades of abuse before his death, in 2018, had he been formally reported to the police in 2013.
Three members of the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, accused the archbishop of “allowing abuse to continue” during this five-year period. They have started a petition calling for the archbishop to resign, which has now been signed by more than 7,000 people.
Smyth is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England, having subjected as many as 130 victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.
His abuse took place over almost five decades and across three countries, according to the report. He targeted boys who attended summer camps he ran for young Christians.
Smyth abused 26 to 30 boys and young men in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, the report found. He then relocated to Africa, where he abused a further 85 to 100 “young male children aged 13 to 17”.
The report says that from July 2013, the Church of England knew “at the highest level” about Smyth’s abuse in the UK and should have “properly and effectively” reported him to the UK police and the relevant authorities in South Africa.
Inaction from the Church represented a “missed opportunity to bring him to justice,” the report says.
