In November 2024, then-archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned from his position in disgrace. Welby’s resignation came after a review found he “could and should” have done more to bring a prolific paedophile to justice – a man who Welby had known since the ’70s. Now, the BBC has given Welby an opportunity to try and launder his reputation. Instead, Welby has undoubtedly made things even worse for himself, and forced victims to once again recoil from the inhumanity of the church:
John Smyth’s victims are the ones who choose whether to forgive their abuser, not you, mate.
The absolute fucking arrogance of Justin Welby. pic.twitter.com/mMlUfpqhtv
— Miffy (@miffythegamer) March 30, 2025
Justin Welby/John Smyth
Welby resigned following the release of a report on abuse in the church. As reported by the BBC at the time:
A British barrister’s “horrific” and violent abuse of more than 100 children and young men was covered up within the Church of England for decades, according to the conclusion of a damning report.
John Smyth QC is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England, a long-awaited independent review found.
Smyth QC, who died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018, was accused of attacking boys at his Winchester home who he had met at a Christian summer camp in Dorset during the 1970s and 1980s.
Accusations against Smyth first came to the public’s attention following a 2017 documentary from Channel 4 (Welby was the archbishop from 2013). The BBC detailed the timeline:
The investigation came after a report by the Iwerne Trust in 1982, which was not made public until 2016.
Smyth was confronted about his conduct after the report compiled by Rev Mark Ruston and Rev David Fletcher.
It found Smyth identified pupils from leading public schools including Winchester College and took them to his home near Winchester in Hampshire, where he carried out lashings with a garden cane in his shed.
It said eight of the boys received a total of 14,000 lashes, while two more received 8,000 strokes between them over three years.
The Iwerne Trust called the practice “horrific” but the claims were not reported to police until 2013 – more than 30 years later.
Despite his “appalling” actions having been identified in the 1980s, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.
He was encouraged to leave the country and moved to Zimbabwe without any referral being made to police.
During this time, church officers “knew of the abuse and failed to prevent further abuse”, the independent review led by Keith Makin says.
It adds: “From July 2013 the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa.
“This represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice.”
In Zimbabwe he was charged with the manslaughter of a 16-year-old boy, who was attending one of his summer camps. Smyth was not convicted of the offence.
Initially, Welby refused to resign. Here’s what victim Mark Stibbe told Channel 4 in response to that:
I think he should resign… I think there’s so much shame, so much pain, so much agony associated with this
Welby eventually resigned in disgrace. Now he’s returned, and people are once again showing their disgust.
‘Forgiveness’
The standout moment from the interview was when Welby didn’t hesitate to say he would forgive Smyth, as reported by the BBC:
Asked by the BBC if he would forgive Smyth, Welby said: “Yes. I think if he was alive and I saw him, but it’s not me he’s abused.
“He’s abused the victims and survivors. So whether I forgive or not is, to a large extent, irrelevant.”
It’s true that forgiveness is a core tenant of Welby’s faith. However, as Welby also said in the interview that he was “absolutely overwhelmed” by the scale of abuse he encountered in the church, it’s hard to understand how Welby hasn’t questioned his faith:
Imagine if you were a victim of abuse in the church and you hear that the Archbishop of Canterbury found *your* reality ‘overwhelming’. Neither an excuse nor a reason
#bbclaurak— Sarah Mann (@sarahmann365) March 30, 2025
Disgusting Welby says his ineffectiveness was due to being 'overwhelmed – 'it's not an excuse, it's a reason'. No, it's an excuse and someone in his position would have had plenty of support to investigate it all. He ran away and now plays the victim card. #r4today #bbclaurak
— RoslynByfield (@RoslynByfield) March 29, 2025
Of course, some are suggesting that Welby’s so-called ‘faith’ is all an act:
Poor, poor Justin Welby! Too overwhelmed by it all to take any action?🙄
How overwhelmed were the victims?
I recall Ian Hislop saying he met him at a dinner the night after he resigned & he showed zero remorse.
Rarely compliment Laura, but this was well done.#bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/g3TaRPOqvg— Coralaen 💙✊🏻🌻🐝🇪🇺😎 (@Moonstone1812) March 30, 2025
The Independent covered the above-mentioned event, reporting:
In a column for the magazine, Mr Hislop wrote he was unimpressed by Mr Welby’s appearance at the dinner.
“Isn’t this lovely?” said Mr Welby to Mr Hislop, who replied: “It is lovely that you have resigned.” Mr Hislop said this was “not the most brilliant bit of repartee”, but an exchange of views followed and they parted on unfriendly terms.
The Have I Got News For You host also criticised those at the gala that approached Mr Welby to comfort him and tell him he is “brave” for resigning.
“These particular Christians were far too keen to forgive each other for their sins,” Mr Hislop wrote, “and far too slow to seek justice for the poor victims in their flock”.
He added: “Welby seemed to me to be unrepentant and unashamed. I am not convinced he has been punished enough – unlike the poor boys his friend so mercilessly flogged in the name of Christianity.”
The BBC also spoke to one of Smyth’s victims on the topic of forgiveness, reporting:
One of Smyth’s victims, known as Graham – who made the 2013 complaint – told the BBC he would not forgive Welby.
He said: “I’ve said before that, if in 2017 he had contacted us, said ‘I will come and apologise to you personally, I am sorry, I messed up’, I would have forgiven him immediately – but he never has in those terms.”
Asked if he could ever forgive Welby, Graham said: “Not if he continues to blank us and refuses to tell us the truth. We’re the victims, we deserve to know what happened and we don’t yet.”
In the interview, Welby attempted to shift blame on to the police:
Pushed on why he did not do more while in office, Welby said police told him “under no circumstances are you to get involved because you will contaminate our enquiry”.
He added: “I should have pestered them to be honest, and I see that now.”
It’s not unfair to suspect the British police of incompetence on these sorts of investigations. In fact, many are asking why they’re not investigating Welby:
It's time for Justin Welby's trial.
Covering up sexual abuse should be a crime. pic.twitter.com/Dg07rK1MQi
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) March 29, 2025
The response to the appearance of Welby
Many are asking why the BBC dedicated a significant section of its political programme to Welby:
This interview with Welby should be a separate Panorama programme. The Home Secretary is having to patiently wait for this pre-recorded interview with Welby before she gets her turn. Such a lack of respect given to Yvette Cooper by Tory Laura. #bbclaurak
— Hugh 🌹 (@HughEdw31897368) March 30, 2025
So the bbc managed to avoid any discussion whatsoever of what was the mist consequential event of the past week for many disabled people. Nice work #bbclaurak 🤬
— RobJW (@VintageFairFan) March 30, 2025
Others are highlighting that the disgraced Welby was a prominent voice in the efforts to smear Jeremy Corbyn and the left as antisemites:
Justin Welby intervened when it came to lies and smears about Mr Corbyn (because he wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself, apparently) but was “overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the child abuse problem within the Church” so failed to act. pic.twitter.com/YUEwZMc5Rg
— James Foster (@JamesEFoster) March 30, 2025
Back to the topic of forgiveness, it’s interesting to note that Welby doesn’t always forgive. In an interview from October 2023, he stressed that while he did blame Hamas for the terror attack on 7 October, he would not blame the Israeli government for the decades of terror they’d inflicted upon the Palestinians:
As Justin Welby seeks to justify his behaviour over child abuse, a reminder his behaviour over Gaza was equally morally bankrupt.
Was ever more empty, oily, sanctimony crammed in to 2 minutes?https://t.co/S7WECx0TRI https://t.co/ot4hf55zZd
— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) March 30, 2025
Welby has also posed for a photograph with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Justin Welby joined the attacks against Jeremy Corbyn before the 2019 election. He has since asked for forgiveness in respect of Prince Andrew, shielded other child abusers and refused to meet the Pastor of Bethlehem because he shared a podium with Corbyn. Meanwhile….. pic.twitter.com/5A8kDmrjEr
— MikeD (@mjdaly57) November 21, 2024
It’s unclear if Welby would pose with Netanyahu now there’s an arrest warrant out for his suspected war crimes (or indeed if Netanyahu would want to be pictured with the disgraced Welby). What is clear is that no one wants to hear any more from this disgraced establishment stooge.
Featured image via the BBC
