The Church of England is reeling from yet another abuse scandal, this time involving the most senior cleric in the country—the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. An independent review into Welby’s handling of the sadistic abuse perpetrated by John Smyth QC in the 1970s and 80s has concluded that the archbishop’s position is now “untenable”, leading to mounting calls for his resignation.
A History of Horrific Abuse
John Smyth was a prominent lawyer and evangelical Christian who chaired the Iwerne Trust, an organization that ran Christian youth camps. Unbeknownst to the public, Smyth used his position to systematically groom and violently abuse young boys from the camps over the course of many years.
The scale and brutality of the abuse was staggering. According to survivor accounts, Smyth would regularly beat boys in his garden shed, sometimes administering over 1,000 strokes in a single session. The trauma left many of his victims with lifelong physical and psychological scars.
Winchester College’s Failure to Act
In 1982, Winchester College, a prestigious private school with close ties to the Iwerne Trust camps, learned of the allegations against Smyth. Shockingly, rather than reporting Smyth to the authorities, the college simply cut ties with him, allowing him to relocate to Zimbabwe and later South Africa where he continued his pattern of abuse. This unconscionable decision to prioritize the institution’s reputation over the safety of children had devastating consequences.
Welby’s Knowledge of the Scandal
The question at the heart of the current scandal is what Archbishop Welby knew about Smyth’s crimes and when. Welby himself served as a dormitory officer at the Iwerne holiday camps in the late 1970s. The independent review found that while Welby may not have known the full extent of the abuse, he likely had at least some knowledge of concerns about Smyth’s conduct as early as 1978.
Even more damningly, the Church of England learned of the concrete allegations against Smyth in 2013, the same year Welby took office as Archbishop of Canterbury. Yet astonishingly, neither Welby nor the Church reported this to law enforcement in the UK or South Africa. Smyth would not face any consequences for his actions before his death in South Africa in 2018.
Calls for Welby’s Resignation Intensify
In light of the review’s findings, survivors of Smyth’s abuse and other church leaders are openly calling for Welby to step down immediately. London vicar Giles Fraser described Welby’s position as “morally untenable”, while Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley stated publicly that he must resign.
His resignation would be a positive step in a very bleak situation … I feel his conscience must be telling him this.
– Andrew Morse, abuse survivor
Yet Welby has thus far resisted these demands, insisting that he was unaware of the allegations until 2013 and reiterating his intent to remain in office until his planned retirement in 2026. Some speculate that he hopes to avoid the appearance of the scandal forcing him from his post.
A Test for the Church of England
This devastating case comes as the latest in a long line of abuse scandals that have rocked the Church of England and other religious institutions in recent decades. How the Church ultimately responds to the allegations against its most senior cleric will send a powerful message about its commitment to accountability, transparency, and reform.
For far too long, the instinct of the Church of England, like many organizations confronted with abuse in its ranks, has been to close ranks and protect its own reputation at all costs. Survivors of church abuse have consistently seen their suffering compounded by an institutional response characterized more by defensiveness and cover-up than genuine compassion and repentance.
For lots of survivors, this report puts [Welby] clearly in the frame… But all of that gets overshadowed by this story. The church has, gradually, been learning the lessons about scandals like this. But it’s taken a long, long time.
– Harriet Sherwood, journalist covering the scandal
There are no easy answers for an ancient institution grappling with a legacy of abuse and coverup. But for the Church of England, this crisis crystallizes the urgent need for greater accountability, transparency, and reform, starting with its leadership. If Archbishop Welby is unable or unwilling to lead the Church in a new direction, then his moral authority to continue at its helm is indeed in grave doubt.
