Birkenhead Bishop says she's 'not here to name names' after Makin Review

The Bishop of Birkenhead has said others in the Church of England may need to quit following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation. Justin Welby announced he would step down from his role after a review found the 68-year-old “could and should” have reported prolific child abuser John Smyth.

The independent Makin Review concluded that barrister John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the Archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013. It said this was not the case, as Mr Welby did not follow up rigorously enough on reports of Smyth’s “abhorrent” abuse of more than 100 boys and young men.

Birkenhead’s Julie Conatly, deputy lead bishop for safeguarding, said that while Mr Welby’s resignation is the “right thing to do,” it alone “is not going to solve the problem”.

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Ms Conalty said today: “This is about institutional changes, our culture and a systemic failure, so there must be more that we need to do. Very possibly some other people should go. I’m not here to name names.”

It is not immediately clear when the Archbishop will leave his post, but finding a replacement could take at least six months. In his resignation statement, Justin Welby said: "Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.

“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth. When I was informed in 2013 and told that the police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

"It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024."

Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

He died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said.

Despite the review being published on Thursday, November 7, the Archbishop was still allowed to preach at Liverpool Cathedral several days later for a Remembrance Sunday service. A spokesperson for the Cathedral confirmed to the ECHO, it was aware of the report but not aware of the calls for the Archbishop to resign and “therefore had no reason to change the pre-arranged appointment”.