The abuse scandal that leaves the archbishop of Canterbury in an ‘untenable’ position

Good morning. It is 11 years since the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was told of allegations against a sadistic abuser of children groomed at evangelical Christian camps. It is seven years since a Channel 4 investigation into John Smyth’s abuse, and six years since Smyth died in South Africa. Now, after a long-awaited review of the Church of England’s handling of the case concluded that it is likely that Welby had at least some sense of concerns about Smyth decades ago, there are growing calls for his resignation.

Those calls intensified yesterday as a petition calling for his resignation created by members of the General Synod drew thousands of signatures – and bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley said that his position was “untenable”. Andrew Morse, one of Smyth’s victims, told the Guardian: “His resignation would be a positive step in a very bleak situation … I feel his conscience must be telling him this.”

But although Welby has apologised, he insists that he had no knowledge of the abuse before 2013 – and has no intention of resigning. Today’s newsletter, with Harriet Sherwood, who has been covering the story for the Guardian and Observer since 2017, is about why the case has turned into a major scandal, what Welby knew, and whether he can survive. Here are the headlines.

Five big stories

In depth: ‘For many survivors, an apology is not enough’

Justin Welby is due to step down as the archishop of Canterbury when he turns 70 in January 2026. In 2022, when he was asked about whether he intended to serve until the mandatory retirement age, he said: “It’s not about me, it’s what’s best for the church. I will certainly take advice, and if my health is good and people are happy that I’m still there, then I’ll still be there.”

But now, after a long-awaited independent review led by former social services director Keith Makin concluded that it was “unlikely” that Welby knew nothing of concerns about John Smyth (above), the question of what is best for the church looks like a very difficult one. “Welby is under a huge amount of pressure,” Harriet Sherwood said. “He has repeatedly apologised. But for many of the survivors of Smyth’s abuse, that is not enough.”

What did Smyth do?

The public view of Smyth in the 1970s and 80s was as a crusader for traditional “values”. He was a senior QC who represented Mary Whitehouse in a blasphemy case against Gay News (over a poem about a centurion’s love for Christ) and a gross indecency case over a play that depicted a man being raped. “He was a very powerful and charismatic figure,” said Harriet.

The truth about Smyth was horrifically different. Smyth was the chair of the Iwerne Trust, a group that ran Christian camps in Dorset. He groomed boys who he met through those camps, many of them pupils at the private school Winchester college, and violently beat them in the garden shed of his family home. His own seven-year-old son was among his victims, believed to number about 130 in total. One survivor said he received more than 1,000 strokes with a cane on a single occasion; some had to wear nappies to contain the bleeding. This description is only the most superficial account of a years-long pattern of sadistic abuse.

“Many of the victims were unsurprisingly deeply traumatised,” Harriet said. “Some tried to take their own lives.”

Winchester college cut all ties with Smyth in 1982, but they did not report him to the authorities. With no blemish to his reputation, he moved to Zimbabwe and later South Africa, where he appears to have continued his abusive behaviour. He was charged but never convicted of the manslaughter of a 16-year-old boy who had attended one of his summer camps.

After the Channel 4 investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service concluded in August 2018 that Smyth had a case to answer in the UK; he died, of an apparent heart attack, in South Africa the same month.

How did the church handle the scandal?

In 2012, one of Smyth’s victims reached out to a fellow survivor who was an officer of the Church of England and asked for help. Welby was confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury a year later; by July of that year, a church safeguarding adviser was aware of at least three victims, and possibly five or six others.

“That’s the critical point,” Harriet said. “Welby was informed, and so were other senior figures. But they didn’t tell the authorities in the UK or South Africa. And between 2013 and [Smyth’s] death five years later, he continued to present a threat. He didn’t have to face up to what he’d done, and he didn’t face any consequences.” The allegations against Smyth were not made public until three years later.

While there is no excuse for Winchester college’s failure to notify the authorities in the 1980s, Harriet said: “It was typical of the time – there was perhaps not a reckoning with the way that people carry abuse and trauma through their whole lives. But that was just not an excuse in 2013. It was widely understood and accepted by then how damaging this kind of abuse could be.

“When you talk to survivors – and I’ve talked to a lot – they say that the cover-up, and not being listened to, is as large a part of the trauma for them as the abuse itself.”

Why is Welby under pressure?

Welby’s connection to the scandal stretches back well before he became the archbishop of Canterbury. Welby was a volunteer at the same holiday camps where Smyth groomed some of his victims in the 1970s, and the Makin review notes two critical claims that he would have had at least some sense of Smyth’s actions.

Makin writes that a “contributor to this review” said that in 1978 they had overheard Welby having a “grave” conversation about Smyth with the Rev Mark Ruston, who would later produce a report about Smyth’s abuse for Winchester college. And Welby acknowledged to Makin that in 1981 he was told by the rector of a church in Paris where Smyth brought a group of boys en route to a skiing trip in France that he was “really not a nice man” and that “one of the boys had a chat with me”.

Welby insists that he has no recollection of the 1978 conversation and that he put the 1981 warning down to “incompatible personalities”. But the Makin review concludes:

On the balance of probabilities, it is the opinion of the Reviewers that it was unlikely that Justin Welby would have had no knowledge of the concerns regarding John Smyth in the 1980s in the UK. He may not have known of the extreme seriousness of the abuse, but it is most probable that he would have had at least a level of knowledge that John Smyth was of some concern.”

As London vicar Giles Fraser, one of those calling for Welby’s resignation, notes here, Welby has himself acknowledged that if he had known about the abuse before 2013, that would be grounds for resignation. Even setting all that aside, there is the question of how Welby and the Church of England handled the allegations when they became formally aware of them.

Taken together, Harriet said, “it’s really not surprising that all of this has led to calls for his resignation”. It is true that the criticisms of Welby come within a context where he faces critics from both the church’s liberal and conservative wings as he tries to hold a fraying communion together – a task that Harriet characterised as an “impossible job”. But it is also true that “for lots of survivors, this report puts him clearly in the frame”.

Will Welby survive?

“That is a really, really difficult question to answer,” Harriet said. “But it does seem clear that this report has real traction.

“Welby is 69 in January, and 70 the year after that – and that’s when he is supposed to retire. He is supposed to give a year’s notice of when he intends to do so, which means that it will all be happening quite soon, and he will obviously not want that announcement to be connected with this. So it may be that he tries to hold out.”

Whether he stays or goes, she notes, “one of the tragedies of this is how it represents the church today. It has invested a huge amount of money and resources in safeguarding, and at a local level it’s pretty good. And you have loads of really good people, in the clergy and in the pews, who spend their time running food banks or shelters for homeless people.

“But all of that gets overshadowed by this story. The church has, gradually, been learning the lessons about scandals like this. But it’s taken a long, long time.”

What else we’ve been reading

• The Guardian’s new project, This is climate breakdown, shares powerful testimonies from people facing the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis. The first story comes from Nova Scotia, Canada, where floods claimed the life of Tera Sisco’s six-year-old son. Nimo

• Why are British people so totally obsessed with the Tudors? Zoe Williams fearlessly seeks the answers – and has fascinating things to say about how contemporary depictions like Wolf Hall challenge the longstanding Victorian consensus around figures like Henry VIII. Archie

• A Dutch publisher’s announcement that it will be using AI to translate books has provoked outrage from those in the industry. Keza McDonald explains why. Nimo

• Why do far right leaders succeed even when they fail to cure voters’ economic ills? Because they are experts in “disaster nationalism”, writes Richard Seymour: a “politics of existential revenge” that vilifies those who “threaten social hierarchies”. To fight back, the left desperately needs to find ways to get voters excited. Archie

• The New Yorker has published a series of essays exploring the many factors that led to the re-election of Donald Trump. Among the most illuminating are Jia Tolentino’s analysis on the deep gender divides the election has exposed and Kelefa Sanneh’s report on Trump’s growing support among Hispanic voters, which has ruptured the Democrats’ “multiracial coalition”. Nimo

Sport

BBC | Gary Lineker (above) is to step down as the presenter of Match of the Day at the end of the season. The former England striker, 63, took over as host from Des Lynam 25 years ago.

Football | The Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended after video footage emerged of him calling Jürgen Klopp a “German cunt” and Liverpool “shit”. In the clip that surfaced on social media on Monday, Coote claimed that Klopp was “arrogant” and had accused him of lying.

Tennis | Carlos Alcaraz has suffered a shock first career defeat to the world No 7 Casper Ruud. At the ATP Finals in Turin, Rudd impressively claimed a milestone success in the opening match of the John Newcombe Group, winning 6-1, 7-5 in an hour and 25 minutes.

The front pages

“Assisted dying bill reveals ‘strict’ safeguards on protecting patients” says the Guardian, of an historic bill to legalise assisted dying.

The Justin Welby story also features on the front page, while the Times leads with “Bishop adds to pressure on Welby to stand down”. “Time To Go Archbishop” says the Metro, while the Mail leads with: “Welby Must Quit After Failing To Act On Abuse, Says Bishop”. Over at the Telegraph, the headline is: “Pressure mounts on Welby to resign”.

As Gary Lineker steps down from Match of the Day after 25 years, the Mirror puns on his lugs with “End of An Eara”, while the Sun writes: “What A Finish By Lineker!” Meanwhile, assessing the impact of US president-elect Donald Trump in Europe, the Financial Times leads with: “EU countries to spend billions more on defence as Trump win raises heat.”

Today in Focus

Cartoon of the day | Rebecca Hendin

The Upside

A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad

Ploutarchos Pourliakas completed the 41st Athens Marathon on Sunday at the age of 88. The Greek runner improved on his time from last year by 18 minutes, reaching the finish line in six hours and 31 minutes. It was his 12th time completing the 42.195km (26.22 mile) race.

Pourliakas only began running 15 years ago, inspired by his son, who does ultramarathons. He says that running 4-5km daily and up to 20km on weekends, coupled with a balanced lifestyle, helps to keep him strong. “I feel younger than my 88 years,” Pourliakas says. “We all can do it, as long as we want to.”

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