Bishop of Newcastle leads calls for Archbishop of Canterbury to resign over 'failures' to stop abuse

The Bishop of Newcastle is among leading Church of England figures calling for the Archbishop of Canterbury to quit following an abuse scandal.

A petition initiated by members of the General Synod – the church’s parliament – has amassed over 1,500 signatures calling for Justin Welby to resign due to his "failures" in reporting John Smyth QC’s "abhorrent" abuse of children and young men to the authorities.

Smyth, a former barrister, is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser linked with the Church of England.

READ MORE:Woman fighting for life in hospital after sustaining torso injuries in Northumberland crash

READ MORE:Woman in her 50s taken to hospital and man arrested over 'assault' in Newcastle street

The demand has been bolstered by a bishop’s public statement suggesting Mr Welby should quit, describing the church as being "in danger of losing complete credibility" on safeguarding.

The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told the BBC: "I think that it’s very hard for the church as the national, the 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, something that would be asked of any institution – let alone the church, which is meant to have the gospel of Jesus Christ looking out for the most vulnerable in our midst."

"I think that it’s very hard for the church as the national, the 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, something that would be asked of any institution – let alone the church, which is meant to have the gospel of Jesus Christ looking out for the most vulnerable in our midst."

"We are in danger of losing complete credibility on that front."

Regarding Mr Welby, she said: "I think, sadly, his position is untenable, so I think he should resign."

She added while his resignation is "not going to solve the problem", it would be "a very clear indication that a line has been drawn, and that we must move towards independence of safeguarding".

Mr Welby, speaking to Channel Four following the report's release, disclosed that he had contemplated stepping down "a lot of thought for actually quite a long time".

However, he stated: "I have given it (resigning) a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and, no, I am not going to resign."

After the petition was initiated, Mr Welby reiterated his "horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology", affirmed his decision not to resign, and expressed his "hopes the Makin Review supports the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world".

The Makin review into Smyth’s misconduct, which was released last week, suggested that formal reporting by the Archbishop of Canterbury a decade ago might have led to Smyth facing justice. Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was thus "never bought to justice for the abuse", according to the review.

Over five decades, across three countries, and involving potentially 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth allegedly inflicted severe physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual harm on his victims, leaving an indelible impact on their lives. The Archbishop acknowledged that he was completely unaware of the abuse before 2013 but admitted that the review highlighted his personal failure to ensure that the matter was "energetically investigated" after it became widely known that year.

Mr Welby was acquainted with Smyth due to his participation in Iwerne Christian camps during the 1970s, but the review found no evidence that he had "maintained any significant contact" with the barrister in subsequent years. The report stated that while Mr Welby knew him and "did have reason to have some concern about him", this did not equate to suspecting he had committed severe abuses.

It concluded it was "not possible to establish" whether Mr Welby was aware of the severity of the abuses in the UK prior to 2013. The report suggested that Smyth "could and should have been formally reported to the police in the UK, and to authorities in South Africa (church authorities and potentially the police) by church officers, including a diocesan bishop and Justin Welby in 2013′′.

It added that "had that been done, on the balance of probabilities "Smyth could have faced justice "at a much earlier point "than the Hampshire Police investigation in early 2017.

The report further noted: "Opportunities to establish whether he continued to pose an abusive threat in South Africa were missed because of these inactions by senior church officers."

The petition states: “Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable.

“We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church—and we share this determination across our traditions.

“With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now.”

Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s in Kew, west London, described it as a "terrible situation".

Speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, he said: "There’s a petition going round now, which many people are signing and this is from all parts of the church.

"I’m afraid he’s really lost the confidence of his clergy, he’s lost the confidence of many of his bishops and his position is completely untenable."

Dr Joanne Grenfell, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, speaking over the weekend, refused to say whether Mr Welby should resign.

She expressed her appreciation for his apology, saying he was "personally apologising for what he described as his failures after 2013 to really ensure energetically enough that this was followed through".

When asked again if he should resign, she told Radio Four: "As I said, I really appreciate that the Archbishop has wholeheartedly apologised for what he could’ve and should’ve done differently in 2013.

I also recognise his commitment over the time of his tenure as Archbishop to really having tried to change safeguarding. I think there’s still an awful lot to do but I do think that builds on some of the changes that we have seen over the last 10 years.".