Abuse survivors call for further Church of England resignations

LONDON, England

Survivors are calling for further resignations after the Archbishop of Canterbury announced he will step down from his role following a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the church.

Justin Welby is quitting after a review found he "could and should" have reported John Smyth's abuse of boys and young men to police in 2013.

There are now increasing calls for more senior members of the Church to face questions about what they knew about abuse.

The Church's deputy lead bishop for safeguarding Julie Conalty said "very possibly other people should go" and said, in some ways, the church was "not a safe institution".

An independent review published last week found Mr Welby - the most senior bishop within the Church of England - and other church officers should have formally reported Smyth in 2013 to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa.

Smyth was accused of attacking dozens of boys, including those he met at Christian camps, in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.

The report found inaction from the Church was a "missed opportunity" to bring Smyth to justice before his 2018 death.

Mrs Conalty, the Bishop for Birkenhead, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she could not guarantee there is no abuse still going on in the Church, adding no institution "can ever be totally safe".

"We still have this institutional problem where we are not putting victims and survivors at the centre," she said.

Meanwhile, Bishop of Newcastle Dr Helen-Ann Hartley said progress in changing the safeguarding culture of the Church was "being undermined by the arrogance of a few".

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the second most senior figure in the Church of England after Mr Welby, said: "We now know that some people pretty systematically covered this up, and those people need to be brought to account."

Asked on Today about further resignations he said those who "actively covered this up" should go but said those were not bishops.

He also said Mr Welby had "relied too much on others" when he did not formally alert authorities about Smyth.

On Tuesday, Mr Welby said that "it is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility" for his response after he was first told about the abuse.

Survivors of Church abuse have called for other senior members of the Church to face questions over the handling of the Smyth allegations.

Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and author, told Channel 4 News he thought Mr Welby had "done the right thing" and that he and fellow survivors had been calling for his resignation for years.

"I applaud Justin Welby for resigning but what I think the survivor group would like is more resignations because that means more accountability, people taking responsibility for having been silent when they should have spoken," he said.

"If there are senior clergy who have broken the law then they need to be called to account," he added.

Another survivor, Richard Gittins, told Sky News bishops "who kept the stories to themselves" should now be the focus of questioning.

Other bishops are named in the report into Smyth's abuse including the serving Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway.

One of Smyth's victims said Bishop Conway did not do enough when he was informed of the abuse while serving as the Bishop of Ely.

The report said he was in a "potentially powerful position" to ensure allegations of serious abuse were being pursued - but the allegations were "not properly investigated" despite his diocese knowing of them from early 2013.

In a statement, Bishop Conway said he was told about details of Smyth's abuse in 2013 and made a detailed disclosure to Lambeth Palace, as well as contacting the diocese in South Africa to which Smyth had fled.

The Archbishop of York defended Bishop Conway, telling Today he "was the first person to do something about this".

He said those who "actively covered this up" should resign but added this was not bishops and said that Mr Welby had taken responsibility for "institutional failings".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said "it was absolutely the right decision" for Mr Welby to go and that church leaders should not "think that just one head rolling solves the problem".

"There are deep and fundamental issues of not just practice but culture on safeguarding," he told Today.

"The culture of cover-up has been part of the problem on serious abuse for far too long," he added.