Church of England faces pressure over abuse scandal after Archbishop quits

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By Muvija M

LONDON (Reuters) – The Church of England faced pressure on Wednesday to ensure people are held to account for systematically covering up allegations of abuse, one day after the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over a church abuse scandal.

Justin Welby quit on Tuesday as spiritual leader of the global Anglican Church, saying he had failed to ensure a proper investigation into allegations of abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps decades ago.

Welby resigned after coming under pressure over a report that found failings in the handling of the case of John Smyth, a barrister who abused at least 115 children and young men before his death.

The report has increased pressure on others to be held accountable for safeguarding failures.

“We … know that some people pretty systematically covered this up, and that those people do need to be brought to account,” Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the second-most senior bishop in the Church of England, told BBC Radio.

Cottrell said there were lessons to be learned from the review, but that he was not referring to bishops.

“The church is a very, very large organisation, and a very dispersed organisation. We’re a place where … thousands and thousands of people, anyone is able to be part of our church, so safeguarding such an organisation is a challenge.”

BISHOP FACES CALLS TO RESIGN

The Bishop of Lincoln, Stephen Conway, who was briefed about the abuse allegations against Smyth in 2013 – the same year as Welby – is facing calls to resign. The BBC quoted an unnamed victim of Smyth as saying that Conway did not do enough when he was informed of the abuse.

Conway apologised on Tuesday for not rigorously pursuing Lambeth Palace, Welby’s office, about the matter, saying he had done all in his authority as a bishop.

The review said Welby was ill-advised about the actions taken in Conway’s then diocese of Ely, adding that he was incorrectly informed that a referral had been made to the police.

“It was my understanding that this matter was reported to the police in Cambridgeshire (in eastern England) and duly passed on to the police in Hampshire where the abuse had occurred,” Conway said.

Asked about Welby’s omissions, Cottrell said: “There have been great steps taken in the safeguarding of the church under his watch, but on this case, perhaps he relied too much on others.”

Welby spent years trying to prevent the global Anglican communion fracturing, often struggling to please liberals or conservatives as they fought over homosexual rights and women clergy.

But Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, was as the head of Uganda’s Anglican Church had been rebuked by Welby for supporting a strict anti-homosexuality law in Uganda, said on Wednesday that Welby had split the Anglican communion worldwide.