The head of the Church of England, Justin Welby, has resigned from his duties after an investigation revealed he failed to alert police about a volunteer at a Christian summer camp was sexually abusing young boys.
Welby, who was the priest who married Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, resigned after an investigation showed he was not quick enough to report church-camp operator John Smyth to authorities after it was revealed he sexually abused 130 boys and young men while Welby oversaw the camp.
In his resignation, Welby stated, “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,”
He added, “I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honored to serve.”
Welby, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, presided over Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and King Charles III’s coronation.
‘How were that many people, including Justin Welby, either unaware or willing to turn a blind eye to the flogging of boys that was so bad they were forced to wear nappies to absorb the blood?’@beverleyturner on the Church of England’s biggest child abuse scandal ever. pic.twitter.com/sggUxTM5cU
— GB News (@GBNEWS) November 12, 2024
Per The New York Post:
The head of the Church of England who married Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said Tuesday he will resign after a stinging report found he did not act quickly enough to help stop a heinous serial pedophile.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby — who as head of the church also presided over the coronation of King Charles III and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II — said he is stepping down over the revolting crimes of then-church-camp operator John Smyth.
Welby said in a statement that the Makin Report, an independent probe into the sick scandal that was released Friday, “has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses” that Smyth, who died in 2018, committed in Britain and South Africa.
As many as 130 boys and young men in Britain and Africa are believed to have been sexually abused by Smyth, who operated children’s camps connected to the Church of England, which Welby has led since 2013.
Archbishop Of Canterbury Who Wed Prince Harry And Meghan Resigns Over Handling Of Sex Abuse Scandal https://t.co/GrdQBogspW #OAN
— One America News (@OANN) November 12, 2024
The refusal of Welby to speak out against teh crimes is being considered the biggest child abuse sexual scandal in the Church of England’s history.
