The Archbishop of Canterbury’s position looked increasingly untenable last night after a senior bishop told him to resign.
The Bishop of Newcastle broke ranks to say Justin Welby must step down after a damning report found that his failure to act meant a prolific child abuser was never brought to justice.
Helen-Ann Hartley joined the growing chorus of voices demanding the Archbishop resign immediately so the Church of England can begin drawing a line under the scandal.
A petition calling for Mr Welby to go – started by three members of the Church’s ruling body, the General Synod, and backed by several high-profile priests – passed 7,500 signatures last night. Mr Welby was forced to apologise last week after a long-awaited review concluded that barrister John Smyth’s ‘abhorrent’ serial abuse of more than 100 boys and young men was covered up.
The review found that Mr Welby ‘could and should’ have been involved in reporting the case to the police in 2013 and concluded that it was ‘unlikely’ he would have had no knowledge of the concerns about Smyth in the 1980s.
In 2013, Mr Welby was advised that a ‘police referral had been made’ and believed it was being investigated. However, this was not the case.
The review found that ‘having been told of the referral and realising the seriousness of it’, Mr Welby ‘held a personal and moral responsibility to pursue this further’. But between 2013 and the allegations being made public in 2017, this did not happen.
The Archbishop said he had considered resigning as recently as last week in light of the review but was advised against it.
Yesterday morning he insisted that he ‘does not intend to resign’.
But this position looked in doubt last night after Ms Hartley said his position was untenable and told the BBC: ‘He should resign. 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.’
Ms Hartley is one of just 21 bishops who sit in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual, making her one of the most senior voices in the Church. Her comments were welcomed by CofE clergy, including Reverend Marcus Walker, the rector of Great St Bart’s in the City of London, who described them as ‘really very significant’.
Mr Walker, one of the co-sponsors of the petition calling for Mr Welby to go, added: ‘It is incredibly rare for bishops to speak out of turn these days. I feel very sorry for Archbishop Welby but this can’t go on.’
Another co-sponsor, Reverend Ian Paul, told the Mail: ‘Confidence in the national leadership of the Church is essential and it isn’t there as long as Justin is in post.’
Their calls were echoed by survivors of Smyth’s ‘abhorrent’ abuse of as many as 130 boys across five decades.
Andrew Morse, 63, was abused by Smyth as a teenager and twice tried to take his own life as a result.
He accused the Archbishop of prioritising the Church of England’s reputation above victims.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Morse said: ‘I think it feels like he prioritised his position and the reputation of his church above the plight of the victims and, because Smyth was still alive at that time, above other potential victims as well.’
Mr Morse added: ‘Yes, I do think he should resign.
‘He knew in 2013, he knew the set-up, the victim group and the place where we were groomed, all the way back to the 1980s.’
Mr Morse claimed the Archbishop’s failure to take action in 2013 was a ‘dereliction of duty’ and a betrayal of victims
The Smyth review, by former social services director Keith Makin, found the Church knew ‘at the highest level about the abuse’, but its response was ‘wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up’. Smyth died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police.