The Archbishop of Canterbury resigns. Why, how and what happens next?

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00:00Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the World's Anglicans, has resigned

00:11following a report that concluded the Church of England covered up a serial abuse case.

00:17Welby quit after days of pressure following an independent probe that found he could and

00:22should have formally reported decades of abuse by a church-linked lawyer to authorities in

00:282013. John Smyth, a lawyer who organised church-linked summer camps in the 1970s and 80s, was responsible

00:38for the brutal abuse of 130 boys and young men, according to an independent review. It

00:44found the Church of England covered up the traumatic physical, sexual, psychological

00:49and spiritual attacks which occurred in Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa over several decades.

00:56Welby has apologised for what occurred and said,

00:59I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England.

01:04The Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest-ranking cleric of the Church of England.

01:10Smyth, who lived in Africa from 1984, died aged 75 in South Africa in 2018 while under

01:19investigation by British police. He never faced any criminal charges.

01:25Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, heads the 42 national and regional churches

01:30that make up the 85 million-strong Global Anglican Communion. As the top cleric, he

01:37christened the newest royal arrivals, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis,

01:43and officiated at the wedding of their uncle, Prince Harry. At the funerals of Prince Philip

01:49and Queen Elizabeth II, he delivered sermons. In 2023, at the coronation of Charles III,

01:57he became the first Archbishop in 70 years to crown a British monarch. He also used his

02:04high-profile position to criticise governments speaking out about global issues such as climate

02:10change, corruption and the treatment of refugees. Justin Welby was born in London in 1956. His

02:18mother, Jane, was a former personal secretary to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

02:24His parents divorced in 1958 and he was brought up by Gavin Welby, a businessman who knew

02:30the Kennedys. Welby studied at Eton College and then Cambridge University, where he discovered

02:36his faith and future direction. After working for 11 years in the oil industry, he quit

02:42in 1989, studied theology and was ordained as a priest in 1993. He later became Bishop

02:50of Durham, the Church of England's fourth most senior cleric, and the Archbishop of

02:55Canterbury in 2013. Welby's successor is appointed by the King on the recommendation

03:01of the 16-member Crown Nominations Committee, which includes senior clergy and lay members.

03:09The decision can take many months.