Archbishop of Canterbury’s tenure ends after resigning over failures in handling abuse scandal

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This article was published 06/01/2025 (335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON (AP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ’s tenure in office ends Monday, after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Welby, the head of Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, will lay down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial long staff – in a symbolic act which marks the end of his ministry. Most of his official functions will be delegated to the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell.

Welby had announced in November that he would resign after an independent investigation into the late John Smyth, a prominent attorney who the report said sexually, psychologically and physically abused about 30 boys and young men in the United Kingdom and 85 in Africa from the 1970s until his death in 2018.

The 251-page report of the Makin Review concluded that Welby failed to report Smyth to authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, soon after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner.

Welby’s initial refusal to step aside kindled anger about a lack of accountability at the highest reaches of the church.

The resignation comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England. A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse said a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, which has more than 85 million members in 165 countries. While each national church has its own leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.

Choosing a successor will take time. It is possible the new selection will be announced in the autumn.

The process begins with the Crown Nominations Commission, which nominates candidates for the post and other bishoprics in England. The commission will share the name of a preferred candidate to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who asks the nominee whether he or she wants the job. If the nominee declines then the prime minister has to ask the commission for an alternative.

Starmer conveys the recommendation to King Charles III.

The commission has 16 members, including the Archbishop of York, representatives of the clergy and laypeople and a chair appointed by the prime minister.

Voting members of the commission will also include representatives from the Churches of the Anglican Communion in five global regions — Asia, the Americas, Africa, Europe and Oceania.