Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was ‘right to resign’, his son says

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s son has said his father was “right to resign” following a damning review into the most prolific abuser associated with the Church of England, according to reports.

The independent Makin Review concluded that barrister John Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said on Tuesday that his decision to step down – which came after days of pressure following the report’s publication – was in the best interests of the Church.

In a statement on Tuesday, he said: “When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

Now, Mr Welby’s son Tim has said his father was “right to resign” and his position “became untenable, simply because so many people were calling for his resignation”, The Mirror reports.

Tim Welby told The Mirror: “He’s definitely very embarrassed and appalled by what’s happened.

“I know he’s going to spend a lot of his time left in office having conversations with some of the people and trying to make sure that things are set up in the right way – so that kind of lapse cannot happen again.

“He’s trying to meet with people who were the victims of Smyth but others as well. He will be doing a lot of that. That’s going to be one of his primary focuses.”

He said: “The frustrating thing is I don’t think it ever occurred to him that it hadn’t been reported to the police.

“When, as Archbishop, you are told that something has happened, it has usually gone through so many hands. It seemed utterly inconceivable that someone wouldn’t have said to the police: ‘This has been going on’.

He’s definitely very embarrassed and appalled by what’s happened

“He is really, really cross that it didn’t occur to him – to triple check that someone had actually done that. If you discover a crime then, of course, it gets reported. I wouldn’t say he was naive so much.

“Certainly, if it had happened later on, he would have known what was going on and would have been more explicit.”

He added: “It feels more like a political decision to resign where something’s gone wrong in the office. The person at the top is always responsible. His position became untenable, simply because so many people were calling for his resignation.”

Tim Welby said his father is “a good man and I love him a lot”.

He said: “Dad was right to resign – it was the correct decision. I’m so very proud of my dad for all he has done throughout his life and his work for the Church of England.”

Tim Welby said: “He never actually sought to be Archbishop of Canterbury. In fact, when the former Archbishop retired, all the Bishops were asked to write a CV and explain why they should get the job. But my father wrote a long list of reasons why he should not.

“So he was a little bit confused when he then got the job. He wasn’t very keen to have the job in the first place. I think he has enjoyed the challenges of being the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“It’s not positions that he cares about. No, no, he’s always wanted to be where he felt God wanted him to be.”

Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, John Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

He died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the Makin Review said.

Tim Welby also told The Mirror that people like Smyth must get “weeded out”.

He said: “If you have people who are that way inclined, you need to make sure that they get weeded out and that they aren’t in the job in the first place, it’s very hard.”