Anglican church leader Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said Wednesday he will step down on January 6 having resigned over a damning report into the church’s handling of a serial abuse case.
Welby faced days of growing pressure to quit after the independent probe found Welby “could and should” have formally reported decades of abuse by a Church-linked lawyer to authorities in 2013.
He announced his resignation last Tuesday. His Lambeth Palace office said Wednesday that Welby intends to complete official duties by January 6, when he turns 69 — a year before he had intended to retire.
“Following the announcement last week of his resignation as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin intends to complete his official duties by the upcoming Feast of Epiphany (January 6),” said the statement.
“Archbishop Justin intends very little public-facing activity between now and Epiphany, but plans to honour a small number of remaining commitments.”
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, Welby’s de facto deputy, will then take over his official functions, it added.
The independent Makin Review concluded that John Smyth, a lawyer who organised evangelical summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, was responsible for “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse of as many as 130 boys and young men.
It found the Church of England — the mother church of Anglicanism — covered up the “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks”, which occurred in Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa over several decades.
Appointed the Church of England’s highest-ranking cleric in 2013, Welby has apologised for what occurred but previously insisted he would not resign because he did not know about the wrongdoing before then.
The report into Smyth, led by former social services chief Keith Makin, concluded those “at the highest level” within the Church knew from mid-2013 about the extent of his abusive crimes.
The failure to alert police “represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice” it said.
Welby’s successor will be appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Crown Nominations Committee, which includes senior clergy and lay members. The decision can take months.
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