Justin Welby: I failed to act on church abuse because it was ‘overwhelming’

[Social Media]

 

Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted that he was "overwhelmed" by the number of child abuse allegations that came across his desk and acknowledged that he "got it wrong" in handling them. His resignation in November followed an independent review that found he had failed to properly act on reports regarding John Smyth, a serial abuser closely associated with the Church of England.

 

Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Welby reflected on the sheer scale of the abuse crisis within the Church and the challenges he faced in dealing with it. "Every day, more cases were coming across the desk that had been in the past, hadn't been dealt with adequately, and this was just, it was another case - and yes, I knew Smyth but it was an absolutely overwhelming few weeks," he said. "It was overwhelming, one was trying to prioritise - but I think it's easy to sound defensive over this. The reality is I got it wrong. As archbishop, there are no excuses."

 

 

The independent review concluded that Smyth, who was the most prolific serial abuser linked to the Church, might have been brought to justice had Welby formally reported him to the police in 2013. Smyth's abuse was extensive, with as many as 130 victims in the UK and Africa suffering from his traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual attacks at church-affiliated summer camps.

 

Allegations against Smyth first surfaced in 1982, yet the Makin review found that his abuse was covered up within the Church of England for years. Smyth was able to move to Africa, where he continued abusing victims, while only a small number of church officers were aware of the allegations and failed to act decisively to prevent further harm. The review stated that by 2013, "the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place" after a victim came forward, but the institution failed to respond appropriately.

 

Smyth died in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018 at the age of 75 while still under investigation by Hampshire Police. Initially, Dr. Welby resisted calls to resign, but in his statement last November, he accepted "personal and institutional" responsibility for his failure to handle the abuse allegations effectively. His admission underscores the deep failings within the Church in addressing historic abuse and its impact on victims.

 

 

Based on a report by Sky News  2025-03-31

 

 

[JonnyF]

The only good thing to come of all this was that the Woke idiot Welby had to resign. 

 

Good riddance. Hopefully legal action is taken against him. 

[BangkokReady]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

The independent review concluded that Smyth, who was the most prolific serial abuser linked to the Church, might have been brought to justice had Welby formally reported him to the police in 2013.

 

Why is abuse only being reported to the church?  Why are the victims not going to the police if they want to report it?

[spidermike007]

There's a fairly simple solution to a problem like this, the church has the suspect detained, and performs a public execution on live television, once sufficient evidence has been met.

 

These are the types of crimes that are unspeakable and need to be met with extremely violent force. 

 

Inaction is almost as horrific as the crime itself. 

[klauskunkel]

7 hours ago, Social Media said:

Justin Welby was "overwhelmed" 

Smyth might have been brought to justice had Welby formally reported him to the police in 2013

so overwhelmed that he had to hide his head in the sand for 12 years, or did the Archbishop get distracted by an altar boy?

[Thingamabob]

Welby is nothing more or less than a creep of the first order. Should have stuck to flogging lubricants for Shell.

[WDSmart]

6 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The only good thing to come of all this was that the Woke idiot Welby had to resign. 

 

Good riddance. Hopefully legal action is taken against him. 

It sounds to me that the reason he resigned is that he finally became "woke." 

[keysersoze276]

It sounds like it was underwhelming. If not, he would have been cutting in queue. He was bored. Probably prayed to god that he would get an invitation to a P. Diddy freak off. 

[norfolkandchance]

Everything's OK again. Welby forgave him.