Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and person of the Church of England, announced his resignation connected Tuesday. He said helium was stepping down “in sorrow,” admitting that helium failed to guarantee a due probe into maltreatment allegations involving a unpaid astatine Christian summertime camps years ago. This determination comes aft a study criticised Welby’s handling of immoderate of the church’s astir troubling maltreatment cases.
In his resignation letter, Welby expressed heavy regret and accepted work for the Church’s past failures. He wrote, “The past fewer days person renewed my long-felt and profound consciousness of shame astatine the historical safeguarding failures of the Church of England.”
Welby said helium hopes his resignation shows the Church’s committedness to making existent changes. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who ranks 2nd successful the Church, supported Welby’s decision, calling it “the close and honourable happening to do.”
A decennary of challenges and division
Welby has led the Church for a decade, facing galore challenges, particularly astir issues similar homosexuality and women’s roles. These topics person created heavy divisions betwixt wide groups successful North America and Britain and much blimpish groups successful Africa. Some African Anglican churches, including those successful Uganda and Nigeria, person openly criticised Welby’s leadership, and they are apt to invited his resignation.
In his resignation letter, Welby expressed heavy regret and accepted work for the Church’s past failures. (AP photo)
The Church’s adjacent Archbishop volition look the pugnacious occupation of uniting the planetary Anglican assemblage and addressing a important diminution successful religion attendance successful Britain, which has dropped by 20% since 2019.
The Makin Report’s findings
Welby’s resignation follows the merchandise of the autarkic Makin Report, which exposed however the Church of England failed to enactment connected terrible maltreatment allegations. The study highlighted John Smyth, a British lawyer and erstwhile person of the Iwerne Trust, which ran Christian camps.
Smyth was accused of abusing implicit 100 boys and young men successful a “brutal and horrific” mode implicit 4 decades.
Welby’s resignation follows the merchandise of the autarkic Makin Report, which exposed however the Church of England failed to enactment connected terrible maltreatment allegations. (AP photo)
The study said Smyth subjected victims to terrible carnal and intersexual abuse, including beating them with hundreds of cane strokes. Some were fixed nappies to grip bleeding from these attacks. Smyth aboriginal moved to Africa, wherever helium reportedly continued the maltreatment until helium died successful 2018.
According to the report, Church leaders archetypal heard of the maltreatment allegations successful 2013, astir the clip Welby became Archbishop. Welby apologised, saying helium had “no thought oregon suspicion” of the maltreatment until 2013, but the study questioned this claim. It criticised Welby for not acting sooner and suggested that if the allegations had been reported to constabulary successful 2013, Smyth could person faced charges earlier his death.
The hunt for a caller Archbishop
The process to prime a caller Archbishop of Canterbury requires a assemblage of religion leaders and a chair, appointed by the British premier minister, to urge 2 candidates. Leading candidates see Graham Usher, the Bishop of Norwich, and Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford.
Usher is known for his enactment of cheery rights and beardown views connected tackling clime change.
Francis-Dehqani, primitively from Iran, has spoken openly astir the execution of her member aft the Iranian Revolution. If chosen, she would go the archetypal pistillate to service arsenic the Archbishop of Canterbury.
(With inputs from Reuters)