Call for complete reform of Church of England safeguarding as Welby steps down

Safeguarding in the Church of England must undergo “complete reform”, a campaigner and abuse survivor said as the Archbishop of Canterbury steps down over failures on the issue.

Justin Welby ceases to hold the leading role within the Church from midnight, with the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell taking temporary charge.

He has acknowledged things “could have been handled differently” but, appearing to reject calls to quit, has pledged to “do what I can” to bring about independent scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church.

Lucy Duckworth, a Church abuse survivor and policy adviser at The Survivors Trust, told the PA news agency there remains “a question for those within the Church as to whether they have trust and faith that previous actions have been acceptable”.

She added: “The Church now has a new leader whose record on safeguarding has also been called into question, like Justin Welby’s was.”

Mr Welby announced his resignation in November, following days of pressure after the publication of an independent review which concluded barrister and Christian camp leader John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.

Having spent Monday privately at his London residence, Lambeth Palace, Mr Welby laid down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial long staff – in a symbolic act which marks the official end of his ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury after a service of Evensong.

Lambeth Palace said he had met friends, staff and former colleagues throughout the day, and expressed his gratitude for their dedication, support, and partnership through the years.

Ms Duckworth said nothing less than complete reform of how the Church handles safeguarding when it comes to child abuse will do.

Se told PA: “We know there is now such a problem (with safeguarding in the Church), we need to stop focusing the failures on individual leaders and start looking at complete reform of safeguarding within the Church of England.

“The only way to do that is for independent safeguarding and that’s going to be voted on in February at Synod (the Church’s parliament).

“We trust that Stephen Cottrell and all of the bishops will be voting for that in full.”

The process to replace Mr Welby is expected to take months, with an announcement about a new archbishop of Canterbury possible in autumn.