Most Britons help Justin Welby's choice to step down as Archbishop of Canterbury over the John Smyth abuse scandal.
Welby resigned this week amid a storm of anger over his failure to report Smyth to the police after studying of the abuse in 2013.
He got here below strain to resign within the days following final week's Makin Assessment, which closely criticized the archbishop and accused the Church of England of a “cover-up”.
The Makin Assessment reported that Smyth abused at the least 115 youngsters and younger males over a number of a long time and that extra victims might have been saved from hurt if Welby and the broader church had acted sooner.
In a YouGov ballot of greater than 4,500 British adults the day after Welby's resignation, 62% thought he was proper to resign, with solely 4% saying he ought to have stayed on.
A ballot of greater than 5,800 British adults by YouGov on the identical day Welby resigned discovered that nearly a 3rd of Britons (31%) had an unfavorable view of the archbishop, up 13 factors from the week earlier than. Solely 6% had a optimistic opinion of Welby and nearly half (42%) mentioned they’d by no means heard of him.
Welby introduced his resignation this week and apologized to Smyth's victims, talking of his “disgrace” on the Church of England's historic safeguarding failures.
“It is rather clear that I need to take private and institutional accountability for the lengthy and retraumatizing interval between 2013 and 2024,” he mentioned.
He added: “I hope this choice will clarify how severely the Church of England takes the necessity for change and our deep dedication to making a safer church. As I step down, I achieve this in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.”
Since his resignation, the Diocese of Winchester has requested the Reverend Sue Colman, affiliate minister at St Leonard's Church in Oakley, Hampshire, to step again from ministerial duties.
The Makin Assessment mentioned it was seemingly that Reverend Colman and her husband Jamie had “important data” of Smyth's abuse within the UK and Africa as a consequence of their place as trustees of the ministry that funded Smyth's work in Africa.
“The Diocese of Winchester is appalled by the findings of the Makin Assessment and the sheer scale of the appalling abuse dedicated by John Smyth,” the diocese mentioned in a press release.
“It’s a matter of deep remorse and sorrow that John Smyth might have had any reference to our diocese when he dedicated such heinous abuse.
“The Diocese of Winchester has requested Reverend Colman to step again from all ministerial duties whereas we take into account the findings of the assessment and work with the nationwide safeguarding crew to take steps to handle any related danger.
“Mr Colman has no official ministerial place in our diocese however has additionally been requested to step again from volunteering.
The Smyth victims requested for extra clergy to go away. Mark Stibbe, who was abused by Smyth for years as a youngster, advised Channel 4 Information: “I applaud Justin Welby for resigning, however I believe the survivor group would love extra resignations as a result of it means extra accountability, folks taking accountability for they have been silent. when they need to have spoken.”
There have been requires the Bishop of Lincoln, Stephen Conway, to step down. He admitted he had acquired revelations about Smyth's abuse whereas he was Bishop of Ely and apologized for not doing sufficient to make sure the Church and the authorities handled the allegations correctly.
“I perceive that this matter has been reported to Cambridgeshire Police and duly handed on to Hampshire Police the place the abuse passed off,” he mentioned.
“It’s clear to me that I did every part in my energy as a bishop of the Church of England, allowing for that I had no authority over a very unbiased province on one other continent.
“I totally settle for that my mistake was in not persistently pursuing Lambeth about inter-province communications and for that I’m deeply sorry.
The bishop was defended by Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the second-highest chief of the Church of England, who advised BBC Radio 4's Right this moment program that Conway “was the primary individual to do one thing about it”.
Archbishop Cottrell additionally mentioned on the present that anybody concerned within the cover-up ought to resign, however that these people “are usually not bishops”.
