Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns amid sexual abuse case—Who is he? What’s the scandal? All you need to know

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday amid the fallout from a long-running sexual abuse scandal.

Welby stepped down after an independent investigation found that he had failed to inform police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Here are the answers to some questions about the Church of England, Welby’s decision and its global significance.

What is the Church of England?

The Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, is a Christian denomination and the official church of England. It was created in the 16th century when the English church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church.

The church is part of the global Anglican Communion, a family of churches that has over 85 million members in more than 165 countries. Britain’s monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England and has the power to appoint bishops and other church leaders.

What is the Archbishop of Canterbury?

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England and is traditionally seen as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. Each of the 46 churches that comprise the Anglican Communion has its own primate, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.

Who is Justin Welby?

Justin Welby, 68, was the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked in the oil industry for 11 years before he left in 1989 to study for the priesthood.

Welby was ordained in 1992 and worked extensively in Africa and the Middle East before he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013. Though a skilled mediator — who has worked to resolve conflicts in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa — he struggled to unite the global Anglican Communion.

What are the splits in the Anglican Communion?

Like many Christian denominations, the Anglicans are split by disagreements over the church’s teachings about homosexuality and the role of women. While churches in England and America have become more welcoming to the LGBT community and moved to ordain women priests and bishops, some more conservative churches in Africa and Asia have resisted those changes. Those divisions have weakened the Archbishop of Canterbury’s influence in the Anglican Communion.

Why did Welby resign?

An independent investigation last week released its long-awaited report into the late John Smyth, who sexually, psychologically and physically abused more than 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps in the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa over five decades.

The 251-page report concluded that Welby failed to report Smyth to authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, soon after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner and many of his victims wouldn’t have been abused, the report found.

Welby initially refused to resign, saying he was wrongly informed that police had already been notified and he shouldn’t do anything to interfere with their investigation. But his position became untenable after a growing number of church leaders and victims criticized him for failing to take responsibility for the scandal.

“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Welby said, announcing his resignation.

Has the church faced other abuse allegations?

Yes. Like the Catholic Church, the Church of England has faced a long series of allegations that priests and others affiliated with the church used their positions to abuse young men and women.

An independent inquiry established by the government found that 390 people associated with the church were convicted of child sexual abuse between the 1940s and 2018. 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,” the inquiry found.

Welby’s supporters said he was instrumental in changing the culture of the church and improving its safeguarding procedures after he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

What happens next?

The process of selecting Welby’s successor will begin with the Crown Nominations Commission, which nominates candidates for Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishoprics in England. The commission will send the name of a preferred candidate and an alternate to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will then advise King Charles III on his selection.

The commission has 16 members, including the Archbishop of York, representatives of the clergy and laypeople, a representative of the Anglican Communion and a chair appointed by the prime minister.

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