Written by Muvija M
LONDON (Reuters) – Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will end his duties on Monday after resigning amid an abuse cover-up scandal, but his interim successor faces scrutiny in a similar case, leaving the Church of England on shady ground.
Welby, 69, announced his resignation in November after an independent investigation found he had not taken sufficient action to bring to justice one of the institution's worst offenders, a man who had volunteered at Christian summer camps for decades. The man, John Smith, died in 2018.
Welby, head of the Church of England and leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, said in his resignation that he must bear “personal and institutional responsibility” for not taking action over the “heinous abuses”.
Welby intends to complete his official duties by Epiphany Monday, his office at Lambeth Palace said in a statement in November.
The church is also grappling with a decline in religious faith in Britain and internal divisions over how it treats same-sex couples in its churches.
A British Social Attitudes (BSA) report in 2019 said Britons were becoming steadily more secular, with just over a third of the public identifying as Christian. In 1983, when the BSA began measuring religious identity, that number was 66%.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the church's second-most senior cleric, will assume Welby's official duties until Welby's successor is chosen. This process may take six months.
Cottrell himself is facing scrutiny after a BBC report three weeks ago said he allowed a priest to keep his job despite knowing the church had banned him from being alone with children and that he had paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.
Cottrell apologized for not taking any urgent action on the issue, saying he had suspended Pastor David Tudor at the first opportunity. The church in October banned Theodor from serving for life.
Reuters was unable to contact Tudor.
The church's Christmas celebrations were overshadowed by scandal. Cottrell said in his Christmas Day sermon that the church should be “stripped of its ornaments and kneel in repentance and worship.”
George Carey, one of Welby's predecessors, resigned as priest last month after allegations of mishandling of the Tudor case.
“The current situation creates a worrying vulnerability for the church,” said Linda Woodhead, head of the department of theology and religious studies at King's College London. “The Church may soon find itself without an archbishop at its head.”
“This would create major problems, even in the area of protection, not to mention other aspects of church governance.”
