It is with great sadness that we received the news of the resignation of Justin Welby as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
We are chiefly sad because of the consequences of the Archbishop’s inaction over reports of horrific and appalling abuse of children under the care of the Church. It is a scandal that undermines, even contradicts, the gospel that in Christ we can discover our true dignity and freedom from the power of sin. And the damage it has brought to individuals and families, not least in the retraumatizing investigation and disclosures, is truly heartbreaking.
But we are sadder still because Archbishop Justin is a friend of the College, and because the circumstances leading to his decision to step down mark an ignominious end to an eleven-year tenure. In his visit with us in May 2022 to receive his honorary degree from the College, Archbishop Justin spoke of the shame he experienced when he met with residential school survivors, remarking that it was the same shame that made him weep when examined by a UK commission on child sexual abuse. The truth is that our Church has also failed to protect the vulnerable, that we have not heeded Jesus’ words, ‘Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them.’ And unless we find the honesty and courage to expose and prosecute the predatorial behaviour that even now disfigures our Church and impairs our witness, we shall be deserving of millstones.
In our readings for this morning, the Lord Jesus says to the Church, ‘All whom I love I reprove and discipline. Be wholehearted therefore in your repentance’ (Rev. 3.19). Let us take this sad event as a call to repentance. For those of us using safeguarding protocols, let us not neglect implementing and improving them. For those with knowledge of abuse, take appropriate action.* And for all of us, let us pray for the children and their families, for Justin Welby and his family at this difficult time, and for the integrity of our Church as it faces up to its failings and resolves to be a place of security, healing and reconciliation.
+Stephen
The Rt Rev. Dr Stephen Andrews
Principal and Helliwell Professor of Biblical Interpretation
*Disclosures involving children must be reported to a child protection authority. Members of the College, past and present, should consult the College and University of Toronto protocols here. Others in the Church should follow the procedures set out in their own dioceses (Toronto’s Sexual Misconduct Policy can be found here).
