OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The head of the Church of England, who married Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle, is set to resign over his poor handling of a child sexual abuse case.
According to his official account, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will be stepping down following surfacing reports accusing him of not acting quickly enough after discovering crimes committed by a longtime church-camp operator, John Smyth.
Welby released a statement where he said that the Markin Report, an independent probe into the disturbing ongoing scandal, which was released Friday, “has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses” that Smyth committed in Britain and South Africa.
Smyth, a homosexual who operated children’s camps directly connected to the Church of England, is believed to have sexually abused as many as 130 boys and young men in Britain and Africa.
“When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I wrongly believed that an appropriate resolution would follow,” said Welby. “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and re-traumatizing period between 2013 and 2024.”
Although Welby initially said he would not resign, the pressure following the report mounted over the weekend.
Welby’s office told The New York Post that the “precise timings” of his departure would be announced after “a review of [his] necessary obligations.”
“On publication of the findings, the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised again to victims, and said Smyth’s abuse had ‘manipulated Christian truth to justify his evil acts,’” the BBC reported.
In 2018, Smyth passed away at the age of 75 in Cape Town while being probed by Hampshire Police.
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