Disgraced Justin Welby could be banned from leading church services after failing to report child abuse to the police

11/16/2024 07:13 PM

SHAMED Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby could be banned from leading church services after failing to report child abuse to the police.

The Church of England's former most senior cleric resigned last week over a report criticising his handling of allegations against Christian camp leader John Smyth, who sexually abused 130 boys and young men.

It sparked calls for a further probe into abuse within the Church and more resignations of others who knew.

Welby's predecessor George Carey, Archbishop from 1991 to 2002, was stripped of his permission to officiate in 2020 after another report found he failed to pass information about barrister Smyth to the authorities.

It meant he was unable to act as a minister or lead services including mass.

The Church's National Safeguarding Team concluded Carey, while principal of Trinity College Bristol in the 1980s, had seen a report concerning Mr Smyth's "evil conduct" and did not disclose these concerns to the authorities.

Carey, 89, denied having any knowledge of the claims, or ever meeting Smyth, and his license was restored in 2021.

A senior source said: "What happened to George Carey shows there is a precedent for this.

"Welby has been found to have failed, personally, in not reporting what the Church knew to the police.

"Given what happened to Lord Carey, there have to be serious questions asked as to whether this too meets the threshold for suspension.

"Nobody is doubting that he loves the Anglican church, but he seriously failed on a critical topic, at a critical moment."

Welby, 68, took the top religious role in 2013 – when the Church "knew at the highest level" about Smyth's rampant abuse at summer camps in the 70s and 80s.

An independent report concluded that if he and others had approached authorities, "John Smyth could have been brought to justice at a much earlier point."

Welby worked at camps in Dorset where Smyth met some of his victims, but insisted he was unaware of the nature of the allegations until he was a senior official in the Church.

British cops had been planning to question Smyth when he died in South Africa in 2018, aged 77.

In his resignation letter, he acknowledged that the review made clear he had "personally failed to ensure it was energetically investigated".