More senior clergy may have to resign over scandal that engulfed Welby, says top bishop
13 November 2024 9:49am GMT
More senior clergy may have to resign over the Church of England child abuse scandal, a top bishop has said.
The Most Rev Justin Welby resigned yesterday following mounting pressure about his handling of serial abuser John Smythe.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Julie Conalty, warned his resignation would “not solve the problem”.
She said: “I think he’s done the right thing – words were not enough, and they’re not but this is about institutional change.
“This is about our culture. This is about a systemic failure. So there must be more that we need to do.
“I think very possibly, some other people need to go, I’m not here to name names.”
Victims have called on two bishops and an associate minister to follow the Archbishop in stepping down over their involvement in the scandal.
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rev Stephen Conway, is among the most senior clergymen to be called on to resign.
A victim of Smyth, who wished to remain anonymous, informed Bishop Conway’s then-diocese of the allegations against Smyth in 2013, according to the Makin review.
It found Bishop Conway had been in a “powerful position” to ensure a police referral was made and investigated but under his leadership “opportunities were missed”.
Another bishop facing pressure to stand down over the scandal is the Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, the Bishop for Episcopal Ministry at the Anglican Communion Office in London.
In 2013, Bishop Wells was working for the Archbishop of Canterbury as his personal chaplain at Lambeth Palace.
Yet the report found she failed to follow up with the police on a safeguarding referral that raised concerns about Smyth.
Bishop Conalty also said the Church of England was “not a safe institution” and could not guarantee abuse isn’t going on at the moment.
She said: “It’s frustrating for me, because in many ways, we’ve been working really hard at making churches safer places.
“No institution, nothing can ever be totally safe, but there’s been loads of really good work going on, and what frustrates me is that we still have this institutional problem where we are not putting victims and survivors at the centre, and so in some ways, we are not a safe institution.
“And that is so frustrating to those volunteers who work as parish safeguarding officers for those people in parishes and chaplaincies, who are doing all that they can to make their activities safe.”