Victims to face 'trauma' as abuser forgiven by Welby

Justin Welby has been condemned by survivors and campaigners for saying he would forgive serial Church of England abuser John Smyth if he were still alive.

- DAVID MADDOX TARA COBHAM

The former Archbishop of Canterbury also repeated an apology to victims yesterday and told of the “deep sense of personal failure” he feels about his handling of allegations made against Smyth – thought to be the most prolific abuser associated with the Church.

Mr Welby, who resigned in November and stepped down officially in January, said he had “not really thought it through enough” when he initially declined to quit over the Makin report into the scandal last year, before resigning five days later.

It found Smyth, a Christian camp leader and barrister who is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men to traumatic abuse across five decades in the UK and Africa, might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported allegations to police in 2013.

In his first interview since his resignation, Mr Welby was asked if he could forgive the now dead clergyman, telling the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “Yes, I think if he was alive and I saw him. But it’s not, it’s not me he has abused. He’s abused the victims and survivors. So whether I forgive or not is to a large extent, irrelevant.”

His comments have sparked anger among survivors and senior figures in the Church, who said Mr Welby’s words would “bring trauma to victims”.

The Bishop of Newcastle Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, who forced Mr Welby to resign over his handling of Smyth’s case, told The Independent: “I cannot fathom what purpose the former Archbishop of Canterbury thinks this interview serves. Yet again his words will bring trauma to victims and survivors of church abuse.