Additional senior clergy in the Church of England may need to follow Justin Welby’s example and resign in the wake of a damning report about abuse and coverup in the C of E, according to figures representing both church and state.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, resigned yesterday, 12 November, in the wake of increasing public anger about the way in which the leader of the Anglican Communion failed to tackle a safeguarding crisis produced by an evangelical layman, John Smyth.
Julie Conalty, the C of E’s Bishop of Birkenhead and deputy lead bishop for safeguarding, has stated that Welby had “done the right thing” by resigning as Archbishop of Canterbury, but suggested that other C of E leaders need to act similarly, reports the Guardian.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme, Conalty said: “Just the archbishop of Canterbury resigning is not going to solve the problem. This is about institutional changes, our culture and a systemic failure, so there must be more that we need to do. Very possibly some of the people should go.”
It was a point echoed by Wes Streeting, a member of the Labour government’s cabinet and the UK’s health secretary, as well as a practising Anglican, who told the BBC: “Don’t think one head rolling solves the problem.”
He continued: “There are deep and fundamental issues of practice and culture on safeguarding that need to be taken seriously.
“The culture of cover-up has been part of the problem on serious abuse allegations for far too long.”
The independent Makin Review report released 7 November, which examined the C of E’s handling of allegations against John Smyth, a prolific child abuser, said Welby, the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, was “insufficiently curious” about allegations of abuse against Smyth, who ran Christian summer camps during the 1970s and 1980s.
Victims of the abuse have spoken out that other senior clergy in the C of E who failed to take effective action when told of Smyth’s abuse should also resign, says the Guardian.
It notes that the review of the Smyth case names several serving and retired bishops as being told of allegations, including Stephen Conway, the C of E’s Bishop of Lincoln, and formerly its Bishop of Ely.
In a statement issued on 12 November, Conway said he was “deeply sorry” for not “rigorously pursuing” the matter with the archbishop of Canterbury.
He insisted, the Guardian reports, that he did all he could within his authority by making a detailed disclosure to Lambeth Palace, and by contacting the diocese in South Africa to which Smith had moved.
“I am clear that I did all within my authority as a bishop of the Church of England, bearing in mind that I had no authority over an entirely independent province on another continent.
“I acknowledge fully that my fault was in not rigorously pursuing Lambeth about that province-to-province communication, and for this I am deeply sorry.”
The Makin Review said Conway and others had been complacent and that “serious abuse and crimes [were] being covered up at the time”, the Guardian reports.
Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and victim of abuse, says senior church figures should step down, telling Channel 4 News that victims wanted “more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken”.
Andrew Morse, another of Smyth’s victims, says the Archbishop of Canterbury was “just the leader and there are countless other Anglican churchmen who equally bear responsibility”, adding that Welby had provided “an example for them whether they follow it or not”.
Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, has said “some people pretty systematically covered this up, and those people do need to be brought to account”.
However, he declined to be drawn on individuals such as Conway, the Guardian reports and notes that Conway has stated that those who actively covered up Smyth’s abuse were not bishops.
Cottrell told the BBC that Welby had resigned as a way of taking “personal responsibility for institutional failings”.
He added that the C of E was taking steps to put effective safeguarding measures in place, but it was “frustrating” that it was taking so long.
Cottrell, who is expected to step up to the top position in the C of E until a new Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed, said: “I now find I have additional responsibilities to change the culture and to change the way the church is safeguarded.”
Conalty also addressed the same theme, saying: “It is frustrating for me because in many ways we have been working really hard at making churches safer places. No institution, nothing, can ever be totally safe but there has been loads of really good work going on.
“We still have this institutional problem where we are not putting victims and survivors at the centre. In some ways, we are not a safe institution.”
Following the release of the Makin Review last week, Smyth’s victims responded: “We note that publication of the Makin Review is more than 1630 days late. Justice delayed is justice denied, particularly to all those John Smyth victims who have now died.
“We attribute the vast majority of that delay to the deliberate under-resourcing of the project by the Church of England. We have been making this point to the C of E for the last five years.”
@The Christian Post
