The Ven. Dr. Rob James, a former parish priest and Cathedral Canon in England and the current Archdeacon of Burrard in the Diocese of New Westminster, shared his personal feelings towards the Archbishop of Canterbury’s departure, announced Nov. 12, a result of Welby’s handling of a child abuse scandal in the Church of England.
“Victims were not put first and were not even a high priority. That makes me angry, and although it is a sad end to the Archbishop’s career, he had to go,” said James. “A few other senior leaders may also need to go, for the Archbishop was not the only one to know the details in 2012.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest clerical position in the Church of England, though the office has no legal authority over any member church of the Communion other than the Church of England due to each national church being its own legal entity. However, as a chief unifying figure, James said the news comes as a blow to Anglicans everywhere.
The Anglican Church of Canada and its more than one million adherents is in communion with 44 other churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Catholic Register reached out to various Anglican dioceses across the country for their thoughts on the recent news, with many pointing to acting primate Archbishop Anne Germond’s official statement on the international matter.
“We have seen the news that the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned, having acknowledged personal and institutional responsibility in relation to ‘the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth’ that had been exposed by the Makin Review. Our hearts break for the children and young people who were abused by Smyth and further victimized by the lack of meaningful action on the part of the church,” the statement reads.
It goes on to highlight Welby’s visit to Canada just two years ago, where he listened to residential school survivors while apologizing for the church’s role in abuse at residential schools. Germond said the church “mourn(s) that the news will add to the pain of survivors” and will hold them in their prayers.
“The Anglican Church of Canada is committed to continuing the work needed to make the church a safe place for all, in keeping with our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being. We pray for the humility, courage and wisdom needed for this all-important work,” the statement concludes. Resources for families and children of sexual abuse are provided.
Welby held the role of the head of the Anglican Communion, a responsibility he undertook over a decade ago to spiritually lead and unite 85 million Anglicans worldwide. However, after persistent failures in dealing with the longstanding clerical sexual abuse case, Welby was no longer in good standing with his people and pressure to resign mounted.
It was an independent review compiled by Keith Makin released on Nov. 7 that exposed the Church of England’s Smyth, a British lawyer with a reportedly rampant history of physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Incidents of Smyth’s abuse, described as “abhorrent,” go as far back as the 1970s, particularly at summer camps where he was a layman guardian. Cases of further abuse of boys and young men in Zimbabwe and South Africa later in Smyth’s life were also highlighted in the report.
These findings, coupled with Welby’s failure to report them, quickly resurfaced and led to extensive calls for the Archbishop’s resignation. Welby himself stated that it was very clear that he “must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024.” He noted that he failed to act during an investigation in February 2017 and that he did not meet with victims until 2020, two years after Smyth’s death.
Further, the report claimed that high levels of the Church of England were aware of his history of abuse in 2013, but did not act appropriately.
As decades of underlying instances of manipulation, exploitation and neglect became the topic of discussion, especially in England, the broader question shifted to the impact the resignation would have on the worldwide Anglican community.
“It has certainly caused much anger, confusion, and sadness in Canada, and I imagine it is the same all over the Communion,” James said. “Looking to the future, the Church of England must implement a safe Church system that operates independently of the bishops’ authority. The Communion will survive, and a new person will be appointed but the Church of England, I think, won’t truly be able to say it has learned from this horrific chapter until it has an independent body set up, and a body that has real and demonstrable powers.”
Members of the Catholic Church quickly voiced their thoughts on how the latest news would impact the Church.
“While it will hugely damage confidence across the Anglican Communion, it shouldn’t affect the Catholic Church, which should avoid becoming embroiled in any way,” Timothy Guile, chairman of the English Catholic History Association, told OSV News.
Other Catholics took an approach of caution, saying that although perhaps not directly impacted, the nature of abuse-driven resignations is something the Catholic Church should keep its eye on.
“This is a huge scalp for the Church’s opponents, and a warning to all denominations that we still haven’t done enough to confront abuse and must stay vigilant,” said Josephine Siedlecka, the editor of London’s Independent Catholic News, according to OSV News. She added that this scenario could “easily have happened” to Catholic leaders as well.