A victim of abuser John Smyth said he is appalled after the Archbishop of Canterbury’s “tone deaf” final speech in the House of Lords.
Justin Welby has been accused of making light of serious safeguarding failures in his valedictory speech in the Lords on Thursday after referencing a 14th century beheading before he quits amid a Church of England abuse scandal.
During the speech, Mr Welby, who was making his first public comments since announcing his resignation almost a month ago, indicated the fallout of a recent review into failures in handling allegations about Smyth required a “head to roll.”
He went on to reference the decapitation of a centuries-old predecessor, to which there was some laughter in the chamber.
Addressing the Lords, Mr Welby said: “The reality is that there comes a time if you are 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.
“I hope not literally. One of my predecessors in 1381, Simon of Sudbury, had his head cut off and it was then the peasants – the revolting peasants at the time – who played football with it at the Tower of London.
“I don’t know who won. It certainly wasn’t Simon of Sudbury.”
A victim of Smyth, the most prolific abuser associated with the Church of England, who wished to remain anonymous, said of Mr Welby’s speech: “I have never come across anyone so tone deaf.
“He has resigned in shame, burdened by the Makin Review with ‘moral and personal responsibility’ and all he can do is joke about rolling heads.
“There have been two suicide attempts. This is no time to joke.
“This should have been time for reflection and sorrow. I am just appalled,” he added
He continued: “The bottom line is that John Smyth was not stopped in 2013, after the Archbishop, other Bishops and scores of clergy knew about the abuse.
“He should be ashamed, not joking about his mates in the Lords.”
There have been two suicide attempts. This is no time to joke.
Andrew Graystone, who wrote a book on Smyth’s life, abuses and the Church of England’s handling of matters, said that Mr Welby had appeared to “brush aside the findings of the Makin report”.
He said of the Archbishop: “He still seems to feel that he was not personally at fault, but that his resignation is somehow representative.
“There is still no understanding of the gravity of the crisis in the Church of England.
“Welby still doesn’t seem to appreciate that there are hundreds of victims of clergy abuse waiting for acknowledgement, apology and redress from the church.
“It is scandalous that they weren’t even mentioned in his speech.”
Mr Graystone added: “The problem the Church of England has with safeguarding is not with the ordinary people who attend their parish church.
“The problem is with the bishops and other church officials who have mishandled and covered up disclosures of abuse over decades, and mistreated victims of clergy abuse over decades.
“It is astonishing to see five of those bishops sitting on the bench behind him chuckling like naughty schoolboys.”
Mr Welby announced his resignation last month following days of pressure after the independent Makin Review concluded that Smyth might have been brought to justice had the Archbishop formally reported him to police in 2013.
Statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury.https://t.co/aNnuLBMapo pic.twitter.com/pIIR1911QU
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) November 12, 2024
In his resignation statement five days later, he said he was taking “personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024” and spoke of his “profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England”.
Smyth abused as many as 130 boys and young men across five decades in three different countries and is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.
Smyth died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, with the review noting how he was “never brought to justice for the abuse”.
Lambeth Palace confirmed on Wednesday that the King had agreed Mr Welby’s last day in post will be January 6.
