Archbishop of Canterbury accused of making light of abuse scandal in House of Lords speech
The outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has come under fire over a speech to the House of Lords in his first public address since announcing his resignation under a storm of controversy last month.
Welby was accused of making light of serious safeguarding failings in the Church of England that allowed former camp organizer John Smyth to abuse boys and young men over decades.
The scandal was laid bare in the Makin review published last month, which said that Welby could and should have reported the abuse to police after becoming aware of it in 2013. He resigned several days after the report's publication.
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In his address to the Lords on Thursday, Welby said: "The reality is that there comes a time if you are technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone wrong — whether one is personally responsible or not — must require a head to roll. And there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough."
He added, "I hope not literally," referencing a 14th-century archbishop who was beheaded.
The speech has been met with anger by victims of Smyth. Mark Stibbe accused Welby of taking a "frivolous tone" over "such a serious matter — a matter that has been, and continues to be, a matter of life and death to some".
He also rejected the suggestion that only one head should roll over the scandal.
"Smyth survivors want all those responsible to stand down," he said. "If Justin Welby is as serious about safeguarding as he claims, then this must happen."
Another victim, using the pseudonym Graham Jones, told the BBC that the tone of the speech "did not appear to be one of sorrow which is what was required."
"This would have been an opportunity to look into the camera and say sorry, but instead he talked frivolously about a matter that has led to suicide attempts by victims," he said.
"I was disgusted by the speech."
The Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley, who led calls for Welby's resignation over the John Smyth scandal, told Channel 4 News's Cathy Newman that the tone of the speech "seems to put the focus away from personal responsibility to a sense of corporate responsibility," and that she was "greatly ashamed" by it.
She called Welby's speech "astonishing, actually, and incredibly poorly worded and timed" and confirmed that she had reached out to a survivor to apologize.
"Cathy, for once, I'm finding it hard to find words that are appropriate other than to say I was greatly disturbed," she said.
Hartley said the "problem" with Welby's words was that "there's a level of ambivalence between whether that's actually personal or is it more of the sense of corporate-ness in his role as archbishop?"
She added, "And obviously humor has a time and a place, but this is absolutely not the time or place for humor and certainly not a speech that appears to not show due regard and care and compassion for victims and survivors of abuse."
Gavin Ashenden, a former chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth II, told TalkTV he was shocked by the "level of tone deafness" and said that the speech "lacked any moral sensitivity."
"He appears to think he wasn't personally responsible but he was personally responsible," he said.
This article was originally published by Christian Today.
