Church of England head Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal

Welby’s resignation comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England.

Transcript

00:00The head of the Church of England resigned after an investigation found that he failed

00:07to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps

00:12as soon as he became aware of it.

00:15Pressure had been growing on the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, since Thursday

00:20when his refusal to accept responsibility for his failure to report the abuse in England

00:25and in Africa in 2013, kindled anger about a lack of accountability within the English

00:30Church.

00:32The news comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England.

00:38A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse Organisation found that

00:44deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and

00:49a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make

00:54the Church of England a place where abusers could hide.