How Justin Welby courted controversy as Archbishop of Canterbury before quitting over John Smyth child abuse scandal: From his views on same sex-marriage to Brexit
At a 2018 peace conference in Nigeria, Justin Welby took aim at corruption, warning the country’s leaders that when it comes to reconciliation, actions speak louder than words.
At a 2018 peace conference in Nigeria, Justin Welby took aim at corruption, warning the country’s leaders that when it comes to reconciliation, actions speak louder than words.
Six years on, Welby’s inability to live up to that principle by reconciling the Church of England’s past with its present has culminated with his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury.
It was Welby’s self-confessed failure to conduct a proper investigation into allegations that John Smyth, a British lawyer, physically abused more than 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 80s, that led to his downfall.
The 68-year-old acknowledged in his resignation letter - penned after a damning report found his inaction allowed Smyth, who died in 2018, to escape justice - that it had been his ‘personal and institutional responsibility’ to take action over the ‘heinous abuses’.
‘The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England,’ Welby said. ‘For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.’
Given the verdict of the Makin review, which criticised the Archbishop for showing a distinct lack of curiosity after learning of Smyths abuse following his appointment in 2013, there is widespread agreement that far too little has been done.
Justin Welby has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury after a damning report laid out heinous historic abuse allegations against a former British lawyer
Welby is seen placing St Edwards Crown on King Charles III during the monarchs coronation at Westminster Abbey last year
The late British lawyer John Smyth is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England
‘The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England,’ Welby said
Welby might have championed the primacy of actions over words, but the avalanche of criticism directed at him from within his own parish in the days before his departure spoke of a man cast in the ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ mould.
As Helen-Ann Hartley, the bishop of Newcastle, put it: ‘I think that it’s very hard for the church, as the national, established church, to continue to have a moral voice in any way, shape or form in our nation, when we cannot get our own house in order with regard to something as critically important [as abuse].’
In many ways, though, the disparity between words and actions that underpinned Welby’s departure was typical of his time in office.
A former oil man who was educated at Eton and went on to study at Durham University and Trinity College, Cambridge, Welby was not afraid to his speak his mind.
In the summer of 2013, he lambasted payday loan firms, urging the government to ban ‘legal usury on our high streets’ and vowing to drive online lender Wonga out of business by creating fairer competition.
A month later, Welby expressed embarrassment after it emerged that the Church of England’s investment portfolio included a stake in Accel Partners, a US-based co-funder of Wonga.
‘About eight,’ replied Welby when asked to rate his mortification on a scale of one to 10.
Similar disparities were evident in other areas.
Welby, right, is seen alongside Pope Francis at the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of Saint Paul, at St Pauls Basilica in Rome in January of this year
Welby greets people during a ceremony in Acajutla, El Salvador this summer to bless the Forest of Communion, held as part of the World Environment Day
Welby gestures during his enthronement ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2013
Welby is seen leaving St Pauls Cathedral after a ceremony to confirm his election as Archbishop in February 2013
Shortly before taking up residence at Lambeth Palace, Welby endorsed the Church of England’s opposition to same-sex marriage while stating his opposition to homophobia.
‘The Church of England holds very firmly, and continues to hold to the view, that marriage is a lifelong union of one man to one woman,’ said Welby. ‘At the same time, at the heart of our understanding of what it is to be human, is the essential dignity of the human being. And so we have to be very clear about homophobia.’
Welby was nonetheless accused of dragging his feet in 2021 when Henry Ndukuba, the archbishop of Nigeria, described homosexuality as ‘a deadly virus’ that should be ‘radically expunged’.
Rather than issuing an instant condemnation of Ndukuba’s comments, Welby waited more than a week before branding them unacceptable.
More recently, Welby supported calls for gay couples to be allowed prayers of thanksgiving while abstaining from a vote on standalone services of blessing.
A similar attempt to straddle diametrically opposed views could be discerned in his attitude towards Brexit. Having stated that he would vote to remain in Europe, Welby subsequently spoke of his respect for politicians on both sides.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he later said Brexit had ‘divided the country’, only to demand Remainers ‘stop whingeing’ about the outcome of the referendum, a comment for which he subsequently apologised.
‘Clearly, I expressed myself carelessly and insensitively in the moment,’ said Welby. ‘I apologise for that and the hurt that people have felt.’
The same tendency towards revisionism was evident after Welby appeared to endorse the credentials of Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief and Anglican priest, for the role of bishop of London.
Having previously said Vennells had ‘shaped [his] thinking over the years’, Welby admitted earlier this year that ‘more questions should have been asked’ about her involvement in the Church of England bodies in light of the British Post Office scandal.
‘We recognise this and will need to reflect on it,’ said Welby.
Eight months on, he may reflect that it was just one of many occasions on which he could have acted sooner to protect the reputation of the institution he represented.
