The announcement, on Tuesday, November 12, of the resignation of Justin Welby, primate of the Anglican Church and archbishop of Canterbury, had become inevitable after part of the synod and the bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, demanded his resignation . At issue is the publication, at the beginning of November, of a damning report on the physical, psychological, sexual and spiritual attacks committed by John Smyth, lawyer and director of a Christian charitable association, against more than a hundred young people. A case that directly called into question the responsibility of the prelate.
In the 1970s and 1980s, John Smyth subjected young boys, most of them pupils at the prestigious private school Winchester College, to horrific physical and psychological abuse. He met them during the Christian youth camps he ran in the summer. A first internal report, carried out in 1982 after a victim attempted suicide, denounced the practices “awful” of this layman. However, the Anglican Church concealed these findings for over thirty years, allowing John Smyth to leave the United Kingdom unmolested, first to Zimbabwe and then to South Africa, where he continued to assault young people.
It was only in 2017, after Channel 4 broadcast an investigation into his account, that extradition requests were made. Too late: John Smyth died in 2018 in Cape Town without ever being confronted by judges. He is “without a doubt the worst of the aggressors that has devastated the Church of England”, insists the independent report published in early November.
Led by Keith Makin, a renowned child welfare professional, it puts the number of 115 children and young people attacked in five decades. “Since July 2013, the highest authorities of the Church of England were aware of the abuses committed in 1979 and 1980. John Smyth should then have been reported to the British police.” underlines Keith Makin, who describes “concealment” the very long silence of the Church.
“Deep feeling of shame”
Justin Welby, 68, initially ruled out resigning, stating that he only became aware of John Smyth’s sadistic behavior from 2013, the year of his appointment as primate of the Church. However, he admitted to having “I personally failed to initiate a thorough investigation.” about this tragedy. But as the controversy grew, he had to let it go. On Tuesday, in his resignation letter, the archbishop claimed to be “In pain with all victims and survivors of abuse. “These past few days have renewed my deep sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic failures to safeguard.”
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