Archbishop of Canterbury's tenure ends after resigning over failures in handling abuse scandal

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s tenure officially ends Monday, two months after he resigned following an inquiry that found he failed to tell police about serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it

January 6, 2025 at 11:42 a.m. ESTToday at 11:42 a.m. EST

FILE - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivers his speech as Pope Francis presides over the first vespers on the day the Catholic church celebrates the conversion of St. Paul, in the St.Paul’s Basilica, in Rome, on Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

By Danica Kirka | AP

LONDON — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ’s tenure officially ends Monday, two months after he resigned following an inquiry that found he failed to tell police about serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Welby, the head of Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, will lay down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial long staff – in a symbolic act that marks the end of his ministry. Most of his official functions will be delegated to the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, as the church embarks on the lengthy process of selecting a new leader.

Welby had announced in November that he would resign after an independent investigation into the late John Smyth, a prominent attorney who the inquiry said sexually, psychologically and physically abused about 30 boys and young men in the United Kingdom and 85 in Africa from the 1970s until his death in 2018.

The 251-page report of the Makin Review concluded that Welby failed to report Smyth to authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, soon after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner.

Archbishop welcomes Lutheran leaders to Lambeth Palace

Photo credit ACNS/ Neil Vigers

Friday 28th March 2014

Looking forward to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, a beech tree was planted in Lambeth Palace garden.





Presiding Bishop of the VELKD, Gerhard Ulrich and Archbishop Justin (Photo credit: ACNS/ Neil Vigers)

In the context of the Meissen Agreement, Archbishop Justin welcomed leaders from the Church Council of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) to Lambeth Palace today.

During the visit, in anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, an English beech tree was planted in the Lambeth Palace garden. A similar tree was planted by representatives of the Anglican Communion in Wittenburg in 2009.

The VELKD delegation included the Presiding Bishop of the VELKD, Gerhard Ulrich; Bishop Martin Lind and Mrs Lind, representing the wider Lutheran World Federation. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Director for Unity, Faith & Order, Anglican Communion, were also present.

Speaking to the group shortly after the ceremony, Archbishop Justin said: “It is crucial that the agenda of our ecumenical relationships is not limited to the status of our churches in relationship to each other. We are profoundly united in the work of Christ.”

The Archbishop noted that the Meissen Agreement was approved by the Church of England General Synod in July 1990 “without dissent”, which remains a “significant achievement”.

Archbishop continued; “In the broader context of Anglican Communion and Lutheran World Federation relationships, I am sure this will meeting will be a further sign of churches growing together and responding to the call of Christ that all may be one that the world may see who Christ is.”

Bishop Ulrich said that the trees which had been planted in the Lambeth garden and in Wittenburg showed how deeply the Lutheran World Federation valued its relationship with the Anglican Communion. “It is a symbol of reconciled diversity,” he said.

Bishop Ulrich went on to say that the Meissen Agreement “gives witness to the good and trustworthy relations between the two churches”.

Archbishop Justin sent greetings last month to the 8th Meissen Theological Conference, saying that the Meissen Process had “made a significant contribution to the reconciliation process between our two nations and has enabled the establishment of a large number of vibrant partnerships and links between our churches”.

Canon Kenneth Kearon and Bishop Martin Lind plant tree in Lambeth Palace garden (Photo credit: ACNS/ Neil Vigers)

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Pope praises Welby over gay marriage stance

Pope Francis praised the Archbishop of Canterbury for his stance on gay marriage suggesting David Cameron 's plans could undermine the “foundations of society”.

The Archbshiop of Canterbury Justin Welby, left, is welcomed to the Vatican by Pope Francis this afternoon. Photo: AP


By Tom Kington and John Bingham

5:36PM BST 14 Jun 2013


In the first meeting between the new leaders of Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the Pope praised the Most Rev Justin Welby for promoting “Christian values”.

The two leaders, who were enthroned within days of each other in March, also spoke of a new period of closer co-operation between the two churches after centuries of “pain”.

Archbishop Welby, who although from the evangelical wing of the Church of England is heavily influenced by Catholic teaching, spoke of feeling “at home” in the Vatican.

The Pope spoke of “longing for” unity between the two churches, which have been formally separated since Tudor times.

And he offered an olive branch to the Church of England over his predecessor Pope Benedict’s decision to set up the Ordinariate, the special branch of the Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans.


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He publicly thanked the Church of England for its efforts to “understand” the move and said he hoped it would mean Anglican liturgy, including elements of the Book of Common Prayer, would be more widely known and used by Catholics around the world.

Following a meeting in which the two men discussed their shared interests in combating poverty, the Pope spoke out against the way he said the poor were often “abandoned to the laws of an economy that seems at times to treat people as mere consumers”.

The meeting comes as Archbishop Welby grapples with differing views within the Church of England over how to respond to the Government’s same-sex marriage bill.

Last week the Archbishop spoke strongly in the House of Lords against the bill. But only 24 hours later the Church of England announced that, in light of large majorities in both houses of parliament, bishops in the Lords would no longer attempt to block gay marriage in principle.

Joined by the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Archbishop of Westminster the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Pope listed areas of close co-operation between the two churches.

In a reference to Archbishop Welby’s speech in the Lords on gay marriage he said: “Particularly important among these is our witness to the reference to God and the promotion of Christian values in a world that seems at times to call into question some of the foundations of society, such as respect for the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage, a value that you yourself have had occasion to recall recently.”

Archbishop Welby said afterwards: “Our experience in the UK with Archbishop Vincent and in our conversation today with the Pope is that we are absolutely at one on issues and equally we are at one in our condemniation of homophobic behaviour.”

He added: “My speech was forthright as can be, the Pope was kind enough to say said he has read it.”

In their meeting the two leaders also discussed the fallout from Pope Benedict's surprise announcement in 2009 of his plans to set up the Ordinariate.

The move was seen at the time as major snub to the Church of England and the then Archbishop Rowan Williams, setting back decades of work to bring the two churches more closely together.

Pope Francis, who was Archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time, is said to have told his Anglican counterpart in Argentina that the move was “unnecessary”.

But in his remarks to Archbishop Welby he said Pope Benedict had been responding to a need and publicly thanked the Church of England for its efforts to “understand” the decision.

“I am sure this will enable the spiritual, liturgical and pastoral traditions that form the Anglican patrimony to be better known and appreciated in the Catholic world,” he said.

Archbishop Welby said afterwards that he was “grateful” for the Pope’s remarks and said he was struck by the Pope's "extraordniary humanity, on fire with the sprit of Christ."

Wearing a bishop’s ring given to his predecessor Archbishop Michael Ramsey by Pope Paul VI in 1966, Archbishop Welby joined Archbishop Nichols to pray at the site of the tomb of St Peter underneath the Vatican. They also stopped to pray at the tomb of Pope John Paul II.

The two archbishops lunched with the Pope at the Vatican residence he has chosen to live in instead of the Papal apartments, eating thinly sliced swordfish, pasta with prawns and tuna steak, followed by semi-freddo and fresh fruit for desert before coffee.

Archbishop Nichols called the lunch "terrific".

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Archbishop of Canterbury enthroned: order of service

The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, the Very Rev Robert Williis, talks through the enthronement service for the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, which will feature African dancers, Punjabi music and a female cleric. 



12:59PM GMT 21 Mar 2013


The Venerable Sheila Watson, Archdeacon of Canterbury, will take a central role in the Canterbury Cathedral service marking the start of the public ministry of the Most Rev Justin Welby as 105th Archbishop of Canterbury.

The cleric, who was made the first female Archdeacon of Canterbury in 2007, will install the archbishop on the diocesan throne in the cathedral, a historic moment symbolising his appointment as bishop of Canterbury - the first of three roles held by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The archbishop will then be installed by the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev Robert Willis, on the marble chair of St Augustine in the cathedral, marking his appointment as head of the Church of England and also representing his inauguration as spiritual leader of the 77-million strong Anglican Communion.

Other features of the ceremony include a key role for a young member of the Anglican Communion, Evangeline Kanagasooriam, who will ask the Most Rev Welby formal questions about his role after he has struck the West Door of the cathedral three times with his staff at the start of the service.
There will also be an African element, reflecting the Most Rev Welby's ties with the continent through his former job as an oil executive and most recently in peace and reconciliation work.


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The Archbishop of Burundi, in central Africa, the Most Rev Bernard Ntahoturi, will pronounce a blessing in French on the the Most Rev Welby and African dancers who will perform before the Gospel is read at the service.

Other personal touches include the choice of the Most Rev Welby's robes for the service.

He will wear colourful vestments originally designed and made for the late Bishop of Peterborough, the Most Rev Ian Cundy, who was the Most Rev Welby's tutor at Cranmer Hall, Durham, where he trained in preparation for ordination between 1989 and 1992 after leaving the oil industry.

Westminster Cathedral organist Matthew Martin will perform an organ improvisation during the service when five representatives from the worldwide Anglican Communion place symbols representing their region on the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral.

During the service, Archbishop Welby will be asked to make the declaration of assent - outlining his loyalty to the Church of England - by the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu.

The Most Rev Welby will then be asked by the Very Rev Willis to swear an oath of faithfulness on the Canterbury Gospels, brought to Britain by St Augustine in 597.

The service will feature a newly commissioned anthem using the opening words of the Rule of St Benedict set to music by the composer Michael Berkeley.

The ceremony coincides with the feast day of St Benedict of Monte Cassino, a significant figure for both Canterbury Cathedral - which was a Benedictine Monastery a thousand years ago - and Archbishop Welby who is an oblate of the Order of Benedict.


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