More senior clergy may have to resign over the Church of England child abuse scandal, a top bishop has said.
The Most Rev Justin Welby resigned yesterday following mounting pressure about his handling of serial abuser John Smythe.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Julie Conalty, warned his resignation would “not solve the problem”.
She said: “I think he’s done the right thing – words were not enough, and they’re not but this is about institutional change.
“This is about our culture. This is about a systemic failure. So there must be more that we need to do.
“I think very possibly, some other people need to go, I’m not here to name names.”
Victims have called on two bishops and an associate minister to follow the Archbishop in stepping down over their involvement in the scandal.
The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev Julie Conalty, has warned that the Most Rev Justin Welby’s resignation would ‘not solve the problem’ – Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rev Stephen Conway, is among the most senior clergymen to be called on to resign.
A victim of Smyth, who wished to remain anonymous, informed Bishop Conway’s then-diocese of the allegations against Smyth in 2013, according to the Makin review.
It found Bishop Conway had been in a “powerful position” to ensure a police referral was made and investigated but under his leadership “opportunities were missed”.
Another bishop facing pressure to stand down over the scandal is the Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, the Bishop for Episcopal Ministry at the Anglican Communion Office in London.
The Most Rev Justin Welby with the Rev Dr Jo Bailey Wells, who is also facing pressure to resign – Asadour Guzelian
In 2013, Bishop Wells was working for the Archbishop of Canterbury as his personal chaplain at Lambeth Palace.
Yet the report found she failed to follow up with the police on a safeguarding referral that raised concerns about Smyth.
Bishop Conalty also said the Church of England was “not a safe institution” and could not guarantee abuse isn’t going on at the moment.
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rev Stephen Conway, is among the most senior clergymen to be called on to resign – Charlotte Graham
She said: “It’s frustrating for me, because in many ways, we’ve been working really hard at making churches safer places.
“No institution, nothing can ever be totally safe, but there’s been loads of really good work going on, and what frustrates me is that we still have this institutional problem where we are not putting victims and survivors at the centre, and so in some ways, we are not a safe institution.
“And that is so frustrating to those volunteers who work as parish safeguarding officers for those people in parishes and chaplaincies, who are doing all that they can to make their activities safe.”
The Most Rev Justin Welby said on Tuesday it had become clear that he “must take personal and institutional responsibility” for the “long and retraumatising” period after he was informed of allegations in 2013, during which Smyth was not brought to justice and survivors were repeatedly failed by the Church.
Bishop Conalty said the reason for “so many” abuse scandals in the Church was because it did “not move as quickly as other institutions” in child protection.
Asked whether she could guarantee child abuse wasn’t going on currently, she said: “No, of course I can’t.
“But nobody can in any institution.
“I do genuinely believe that our individual churches, our individual activities that we run, are safer than they were before. But that isn’t the problem we’re looking at here.
“What we’re particularly looking at is this cultural failure that we still have and arrogance that we still have, I think, within the church, where we don’t see what we should be seeing.
“And we don’t act with the energy – as the Archbishop called it – it wasn’t energetic enough.
“We don’t put this first on the agenda. We don’t prioritise it as much as we should.”
Archbishop of York: No more bishops need to resign
However, the second most senior Church of England Archbishop has said no more bishops need to resign on the back of how it handled historical abuse.
The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, said the Most Rev Justin Welby had taken “personal responsibility for institutional failings” by resigning on Tuesday.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about those who he thought should follow suit, he said: “Those who actively covered this up, which was not bishops.
“When people speak about the Church of England, we need to remember we are speaking about literally thousands of branches, parishes, chaplaincies, in hospitals, schools, prisons.”
He said he had read the “sobering” Makin review with “shock, horror and deep sadness”.
“Some people pretty systematically covered this up and those people do need to be brought to account,” he continued.
“I admire the decision (the Archbishop) made to take personal responsibility for institutional failings.
“This is the paradox of this, I believe there have been great steps taken in safeguarding in the Church under his watch,
“But in this case, perhaps he relied too much on others.
“I can say there are lessons we can learn.
“We are doing what has to be done through our synodical processes, which many of our changes have to go through parliament itself.
“I’m frustrated that that takes time.”
He said he believed on the “current plan”, the recommendations would go before the General Synod next year.
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