Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, resigned as the head of the Church of England on Tuesday. The development followed months of protests from the church faithful and the Christian communities over his failure to justly investigate abuse that took place at the church’s summer camps decades ago. The church leader had been under fire for not stopping or holding accountable serial abusers in the Church who found sanctuary in it during the same period.
Welby in his resignation letter and notification of his intent to King Charles III, accepted responsibility for the scandal that rocked the church between 2013 and 2024 and the urgent need to create “a safer church”.
He also acknowledged the ineffectiveness of his introduced measures to stamp out the malaise in the church for nearly 12 years. A situation he said was shameful.
In a show of empathy to victims of the abuse, he noted: “In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.”
He further noted that his stepping aside “is in the best interests of the Church of England.”
