Abuse in the Church of England and how it led to the resignation of Mr Justin Welby

Church abuse can take many forms including sexual violence, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse or acts of intimidation.

Abuse in the Church has been in the news over the last few days following the independent review of the way the Church has handled allegations made against them.

The review led by Kevin Makin and commissioned in 2019 has concluded that the Church of England covered up the actions of a serial abuser John Smyth who subjected his victims to traumatic physical and sexual assaults.

Smyth, who died in 2018, was a Barrister who allegedly abused public school boys who attended evangelical Christian holiday camps in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Symth was the chair of the Iwerne Trust which funded the Christian camps in Dorset.  The independent review states that the Trust carried out an investigation in 1982 which describes “horrific beatings of teenage boys mostly committed in Symth’s shed at his Winchester Home.”

The review goes on to say that the recipients of the Trust’s report, which included Winchester College, whose pupils were amongst Smyth’s victims, “participated in an active cover up to prevent the report and its findings from coming to life.” When the Church discovered the abuse, Symth was encouraged to live abroad and moved to Zimbabwe and later Cape Town.

The review also finds that, “from July 2013, the Church of England knew at the highest level about the abuse that took place. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the Police in the UK and to the relevant authorities in South Africa.” 

Following the publication of the review, there were calls for Justin Welby the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign. Welby initially apologised for “failures and omissions in properly investigating the claims.”

In a statement last week Mr Welby said, “I am so sorry that in places where these young men and boys, should have felt safe and where they should have experienced God’s love for them, they were subjected to physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse.”

Mr Welby said that he was not aware of Smyth’s abuse before 2013, but said, “Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after the disclosure in 2013, the awful tragedy was energetically investigated.”

At this time, he confirmed that he had considered resignation.

Calls for his resignation were made by survivors, who bravely came forward and disclosed the abuse they suffered as well as the Bishop of Newcastle. Similar calls had been made by the Dean of the Chapel at King’s College, Cambridge and the former Canon of Durham Cathedral. There was also a petition calling for Mr Welby to resign.

Today, (12th November 2024), Mr Welby has taken the decision to resign from his role of The Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr Welby has said that the review “exposed the long maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Symth.” 

He went on to say that when he was told in 2013 that Symth has been reported to the Police, “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 retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024.”

It is clear from the review that if action had been taken in 2013, Smyth may have been brought to justice before his death in 2018.   Some Church leaders have commented that the review highlights the church “choosing a path of reputation over the welfare of abuse survivors.”

It is this concern that led to the development of The Church of England Redress Scheme, whose purpose is to demonstrate an acknowledgement and deep regret of the Church of England’s safeguarding failures and their effect on victims and survivors whilst noting the importance of ongoing safeguarding work. It is expected the Redress Scheme will be open for applicants at the end of this year. 

There is support available for survivors of church related abuse:

• Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service for anyone who has experienced abuse in relation to the Church of England, the Church in Wales, or the Catholic Church of England and Wales. You can contact the Safe Spaces team through their helpline (0300 303 1056), their live chat facility or by emailing [email protected].
• The Church of England’s Interim Support Scheme offers immediate help and support to survivors whose life circumstances are significantly affected by the abuse suffered, and the response to it.
• MACSAS supports women and men who have been sexually abused, as children or adults, by ministers, clergy or others under the guise of the Church. They support both Survivors who have remained within their Christian communities and those who have left.
• Survivors Voices is a survivor-led organisation that runs peer support groups for victim-survivors of all kinds of abuse, including faith-based abuse. It has a newsletter and other special events for survivors of abuse experienced in churches and other faith-based communities.
• Replenished Life is an independent charity that provides practical advice and support for those who have experienced abuse and trauma within faith and faith organisations providing a range of options.
• 'Thirtyone:eight is a leading independent, non-denominational Christian safeguarding charity providing a wide range of support to over 10,000 organisations across the UK. They exist to help create safer places for all, including an open-access helpline
• Peer Support Group is a support group which is run by Newcastle diocese for those who have been harmed by any form of abuse in a church/faith context. The group meets once a month for 90 minutes on Zoom, with less frequent in-person sessions held in Newcastle.