Cliff Notes
- Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, admitted to being “overwhelmed” by the volume of child abuse allegations during his tenure and acknowledged he “got it wrong” in responding to these cases.
- Welby resigned after an independent review revealed he failed to act on reports concerning serial abuser John Smyth, who may have faced justice if properly reported in 2013.
- The Makin review highlighted a culture of cover-up within the Church of England, allowing Smyth to continue his abuse across multiple countries despite allegations dating back to 1982.
Justin Welby was overwhelmed by number of child abuse allegations | UK News
The former Archbishop of Canterbury said he was “overwhelmed” by the amount of child abuse allegations coming across his desk while in the post as he admitted he “got it wrong” when handling them.
Justin Welby resigned in November after a review found he failed to properly follow up on reports about serial abuser John Smyth, who was heavily involved with the Church of England.
Dr Welby told the BBC he was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the child abuse problem within the Church.
“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.”