Justin Welby apologises for hurting abuse survivors in ‘tone-deaf’ speech that left victims ‘appalled’
6 December 2024, 16:21
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has apologised after being accused of making light of serious safeguarding failures in the Church of England, with abuse victims ‘appalled’ at his final speech.
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On Friday, he said he wanted to "apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt that my speech has caused".
He added: "I understand that my words - the things that I said, and those I omitted to say - have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth's heinous abuse, and by the far-reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse.
"It did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors, or to make light of the situation - and I am very sorry for having done so."
Mr Welby's speech in the House of Lords on Thursday was criticised by a bishop who said she was "deeply disturbed" by his language, and by an abuse survivor who said it was "tone deaf".
Mark Stibbe, a victim of John Smyth's abuse when he was 16 years old at Winchester college, told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that he was 'outraged' at the speech.
In it, Welby referenced a 14th century beheading, prompting laughter from some peers, and suggested "if you pity anyone, pity my poor diary secretary" who had seen months of work "disappear in a puff of a resignation announcement".
Justin Welby says it was ‘clear’ he had to quit after Church of England abuse report
Justin Welby announced his resignation last month after the independent Makin review found John Smyth - one of the most prolific sexual abusers in the Church’s history - could have been brought to justice in 2013 had the Archbishop reported him to the police.
In the speech on Thursday, he said he was: “technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone wrong, whether one is personally responsible or not, must require a head to roll.
"And there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough,” he continued.
Mr Stibbe said the tone of the speech “should have been the minor key of a deep lament, but it was the major key of a very shallow jingle.”
He continued: “I think in any other organization he would have been shown the door. And I think that what should have been an immediate resignation, standing down from all duties has turned into a sort of happy retirement brought forward.”
Survivor of John Smyth's abuse reacts to Justin Welby's 'outrageous' comments
Mr Stibbe, who is now an author, said he and other survivors had been “calling for more heads to roll.”
“Other senior clergy who are described in the making review into John Smyth's abuses as having failed us as survivors failed us very badly indeed,” he said.
“They need to step down and step aside as well. So I think that the whole matter is not being taken yet as anything like, as seriously as it should.”
Mr Welby initially declined to resign when the report was published, saying he had "no idea or suspicion of" Smyth's abuse before 2013.
Over five decades between the 1970s until his death, Smyth is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.
A senior bishop also hit out at Welby after his speech, slamming his “tone” and accusing him of “making light” of the sexual abuse scandal.
Bishop of Newcastle Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the only bishop to call publicly for Mr Welby's resignation in the days following the Makin Review's publication last month, said she was "deeply disturbed" by parts of the speech.
Shelagh Fogarty reacts to Justin Welby's farewell speech
She said: "I am deeply disturbed by the language of 'a head had to roll' used by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his speech in the House of Lords this afternoon.
"It was, in my view, unwise to say at the very least. To make light of serious matters of safeguarding failures in this way yet again treats victims and survivors of church abuse without proper respect or regard.
"I was disappointed too to see other Lords Spiritual laughing at the jokes that were being made. I have this afternoon had several messages from across my diocese expressing dismay at the Archbishop's speech and the response of the other Lords Spiritual (with the exception of the Bishop of London's response).
"I repeat my call for transparency, accountability and independence when it comes to safeguarding in the Church of England and that the publication of the Makin Review must be a watershed for the Church of England and how it deals with safeguarding and how it attends to unhealthy cultures in its midst".
Smyth, who was a lay reader and led Christian summer camps, died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was "never brought to justice for the abuse", the review published last week said.
