Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who got Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married, has resigned from the post of head of Church of England over handling of sexual abuse scandal. As reported by Associated Press (AP), Welby tendered his resignation on Tuesday (November 12). The resignation came after an investigation revealed that Welby did not inform police well in time about sexual abuses by a volunteer at Christian summer camps. The abuse took place in the year 2013 in England as well as in Africa.
Previously, Welby had refused to take responsibility of the sexual abuse as the head of church.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” he said in a statement he released announcing his resignation.
“I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honored to serve,” the statement further said.
At the time of publishing of this story however, the X handle of Archbishop of Canterbury still showed Welby's image.
Report of the investigation into archbishop's handling of the sexual abuses was released by Church of England on Thursday. The independent investigation found that John Smyth, a now dead prominent attorney who volunteered for the Church of England sexually abused 30 young boys and men in the UK. The report also found that the abuses also took place in Africa from late 1970s till 2018 when he died.
Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation is sure to cause waves in the Catholic world. the archbishop is head of Church of England which has more than 85 million members in 165 countries around the world including in the US.
