### Archbishop of Canterbury Faces Calls to Resign Over Failure to Report Abuse

The spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion and head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, is facing mounting pressure to resign following revelations that he failed to promptly report serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps. An independent review found that Welby did not inform the authorities about the physical and sexual abuse by John Smyth, a volunteer at the camps, as soon as he became aware of it in August 2013.

Some members of the General Synod, the church's national assembly, have initiated a petition demanding Welby's resignation, asserting that he has "lost the confidence of his clergy." By Monday morning, the petition had amassed over 1,800 signatures on Change.org. Adding to the clamor, Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, told the BBC that Welby's position has become "untenable."

The controversy follows the release of a 251-page independent review on Thursday which detailed Smyth's decades-long history of abusing young boys and men in both the United Kingdom and Africa. The report concluded that Welby had failed to report Smyth to the police, a significant lapse that could have potentially prevented further abuse and led to a criminal conviction had it been acted upon promptly.

In response, Welby has acknowledged his shortcomings, taking responsibility for not pursuing the allegations as vigorously as necessary. However, he has decided against resigning. His office reiterated his "horror at the scale of John Smyth's egregious abuse" and confirmed that Welby had no prior awareness of the allegations before 2013.

The church's officials were first alerted to Smyth's abuses in 1982 via an internal investigation, but the Makin Review found that those findings were actively covered up. Smyth relocated to Zimbabwe in 1984 and subsequently to South Africa, where he continued his abusive behavior until his death in August 2018. His actions did not come to public knowledge until a 2017 investigation by Britain’s Channel 4, which spurred Hampshire Police to begin an investigation.

The failure to report Smyth in 2013 had significant repercussions. According to the Makin Review, the delay in reporting meant "three and a half years was lost," a crucial period that could have exposed the truth and possibly stopped any ongoing abuse in South Africa.

The Archbishop of Canterbury serves as the spiritual leader for more than 85 million Anglicans in 165 countries, making this controversy a significant crisis for the global communion.