Britain | Sins and forgiveness

The archbishop and the abuser

Why Justin Welby decided, eventually, to resign

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Photograph: Panos Pictures/ Mary Turner

In the end the pressure became intolerable. On November 12th the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned over his response to a child-abuse scandal. Archbishop Welby had previously insisted he would not go, despite criticism of the Church of England and of him personally in a report by Keith Makin, a former director of social services. It concluded that safeguarding failures meant that “arguably the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England” (CofE) was never brought to justice.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The archbishop and the abuser”

From the November 16th 2024 edition

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