Justin Welby’s last day in post as archbishop of Canterbury, on Monday, was spent privately at Lambeth Palace where he attended two services on the feast of the Epiphany. Following evensong, Mr Welby symbolically laid down his bishop’s crozier, creating a vacancy at the head of the Church of England which is unlikely to be permanently filled until the autumn. His low-key and downbeat departure leaves behind a church facing a deeply bleak midwinter.
Most obviously and most urgently, confidence in the church’s hierarchy over safeguarding issues is at rock bottom following the publication of the independent review into its handling of the case of John Smyth – a serial and sadistic abuser of children over decades. Mr Welby’s decision to resign over the matter, given the review’s damning criticism of his failure to grip the scandal, was the right one. But subsequent calls for the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, to resign, over a separate abuse case, underline the need for root-and-branch reform of in-house safeguarding structures.
