Church of England abuse survivors call for further resignations

Wednesday at 08:08 AM

Survivors are calling for further resignations after the Archbishop of Canterbury announced he will step down from his role following a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the church.

Justin Welby is quitting after a review found he “could and should” have reported John Smyth’s abuse of boys and young men to police in 2013.

There are now increasing calls for more senior members of the Church to face questions about what they knew about abuse.

One survivor said bishops “who kept the stories to themselves” should now be the focus of questioning.

An independent review published last week found Mr Welby – the most senior bishop within the Church of England – and other church officers should have formally reported Smyth in 2013 to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa.

Smyth was accused of attacking dozens of boys, including those he met at Christian camps, in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.

The report found inaction from the Church was a “missed opportunity” to bring Smyth to justice before his 2018 death.

On Tuesday, Mr Welby said that “it is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility” for his response after he was first told about the abuse.

Now there are calls for other senior members of the Church to face questions.

One survivor, Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and author, told Channel 4 News he thought Mr Welby had “done the right thing” and that he and fellow survivors had been calling for his resignation for years.

“I applaud Justin Welby for resigning but what I think the survivor group would like is more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken,” he said.

“If there are senior clergy who have broken the law then they need to be called to account,” he added.

Another survivor, Richard Gittins, said bishops “who kept the stories to themselves” should now be the focus of questioning.

Mr Gittins told Sky News that “other people can answer the questions that need to be put to them, particularly bishops”.

The Bishop of Winchester, Philip Mountstephen, told BBC’s Newsnight failures in safeguarding should be investigated and “appropriate and proportionate action should be taken with anyone who has failed in safeguarding terms”.

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