Archbishop of Canterbury considered resigning over barrister abuse cases

An independent review has concluded John Smyth QC’s abuse was covered up the Church of England.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said he considered resigning over the case of John Smyth KC (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Archive)

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he considered resigning as recently as Thursday morning after a report said a British barrister who abused more than 100 children and young men could have been brought to justice a decade ago.

John Smyth QC’s abuse was covered up within the Church of England for years, an independent review has concluded.

Smyth, believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England, died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who knew Smyth through his attendance at Iwerne Christian camps in the 1970s, “could and should” have formally reported the abuse to authorities in 2013, the review said.

I have given it (resigning) a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and, no, I am not going to resign

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

Speaking to Channel 4 News on Thursday, Mr Welby said: “I have been giving that (resigning) a lot of thought for actually quite a long time, there is nothing over the last ten years that has been as horrible as dealing with numerous abuse cases.

“I have given it (resigning) a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and, no, I am not going to resign.”

Asked if he considered resigning on Thursday morning, Mr Welby said “yes”.

Smyth, called an “appalling abuser of children and young men” in the review, abused as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa over five decades.

He is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.

Mr Welby also said he donated money to Smyth on missions in Zimbabwe.

Smyth was able to move to Africa from England while “church officers knew of the abuse and failed to take the steps necessary to prevent further abuse occurring”, the report said.

Mr Welby told Channel 4 News: “Lots of people funded his mission out there (in Zimbabwe). I think on two separate occasions I gave £40 or £50.”

Mark Stibbe, a survivor of Smyth’s abuse, told Channel 4 some boys were beaten so hard they bled and had to wear nappies.

He said the abuse had been covered up by people “at the highest level of the Church of England”.

“It is very distressing,” he said.

Despite Smyth’s actions having been identified in the 1980s, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.

The Church has said it is “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse” and added that “there is never a place for covering up abuse”.

Opportunities to establish whether he continued to pose an abusive threat in South Africa were missed because of these inactions by senior church officers

Independent review

The report said while Mr Welby knew Smyth and “did have reason to have some concern about him”, this was not the same as suspecting he had committed severe abuses and concluded it was “not possible to establish” whether Mr Welby knew of the severity of the abuses in the UK before 2013.

Smyth “could and should have been formally reported to the police in the UK, and to authorities in South Africa (church authorities and potentially the police) by church officers, including a diocesan bishop and Justin Welby in 2013″, the review said.

It said “had that been done, on the balance of probabilities” Smyth could have been brought to justice “at a much earlier point” than the Hampshire Police investigation in early 2017.

The review, commissioned a year after Smyth’s death by the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, added: “Opportunities to establish whether he continued to pose an abusive threat in South Africa were missed because of these inactions by senior church officers.”

In a statement, Mr Welby said he was “deeply sorry that this abuse happened” and “sorry that concealment by many people who were fully aware of the abuse over many years meant that John Smyth was able to abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice”.

He added: “I had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013.

“Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated.

“Since that time the way in which the Church of England engages with victims and survivors has changed beyond recognition. Checks and balances introduced seek to ensure that the same could not happen today.”

According to the report, some 30 boys and young men are known to have been directly physically and psychologically abused in the UK, and about 85 boys and young men physically abused in African countries, including Zimbabwe, and the total “likely runs much higher”.

The review found that an argument had been made that the abuses were “examples of over-enthusiastic corporal punishment”.

But the report said: “The conclusion of the review is that he committed criminal acts of gross abuse.

“Further abuse could and should have been prevented. John Smyth’s victims were not sufficiently supported by the church and their views on escalating his abuse to the police and other authorities were not sought.”

In a joint statement, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell, and the national director of safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, said they are “deeply sorry for the horrific abuse” and its “lifelong effects”.

They welcomed the report’s 27 recommendations and said they would “consider them now in detail, noting work already under way”.