Justin Welby marks last day as Archbishop of Canterbury after quitting over Church abuse
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Dr Welby will spend his last day at Lambeth Palace before laying down his ceremonial long staff – officially ending his ministry. Justin Welby is spending his final day as Archbishop of Canterbury as he prepares to step down over failures in handling a Church of England abuse scandal.
![[Christian camp leader and prolific abuser John Smyth might have been prosecuted if Dr Welby reported him to police in 2013, a damning report found last year]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/07/18/newFile.jpg)
Dr Welby will officially quit the role at midnight on Monday almost two months after announcing his resignation after a damning report exposed a “conspiracy of silence” around the abuse. The Makin review found that camp leader John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser associated with the Church – might have been prosecuted if Dr Welby reported him to police in 2013.
![[Dr Welby is said to be spending Monday privately at his London residence, Lambeth Palace, before laying down his ceremonial long staff]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/12/14/2184350059.jpg)
Smyth died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and so was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said. He 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 across five decades in three different countries.
Dr Welby said he had had “no idea or suspicion of this abuse” before 2013, but acknowledged that the review had found that after its wider exposure that year he had “personally failed to ensure” the case was “energetically investigated”. He is said to be spending Monday privately at his London residence, Lambeth Palace, attending a lunchtime Eucharist and later a service of Evensong.
