Church of England head resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal

The head of the Church of England resigned on Tuesday after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it. 

Pressure had been growing on the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby since Thursday, when his refusal to accept responsibility for his failure to report the abuse in England and in Africa in 2013 kindled anger about a lack of accountability within the English Church. 

“I believe that stepping aside is the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve,” Welby said in a statement. 

The news comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England. 

A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse found that deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide.” 

Welby’s resignation will send ripples around the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, which has more than 85 million members in 165 countries. 

While each national church has its own leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first amongst equals. 

Welby, a former oil executive who left the industry in 1989 to study for the priesthood, was a controversial figure even before the scandal. 

A skilled mediator who has worked to resolve conflicts in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa, he struggled to unite the Anglican Communion, which has been riven by sharply divergent views on issues such as gay rights and the place of women in the Church.