The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has given an interview to the BBC about his resignation in November, following a review which said he should have done more to stop the serial abuser John Smyth.
In a comment which made the headlines, he said he would forgive John Smyth, if he were alive – Smyth died in 2018 a year after Channel 4 exposed his abuse of more than 100 young men, beaten until they bled in his garden shed.
Dr Welby told Laura Kuenssberg that he failed to follow up abuse allegations because the scale of the problem was “absolutely overwhelming”, explaining this was “a reason not an excuse”.
He apologised again, said he had a deep sense of personal failure and admitted he had “got it wrong”.
Dr Welby said he was ashamed about his valedictory speech in the Lords when he appeared to make light of his resignation.
After the interview, Laura Kuenssberg said Dr Welby’s admission was “baffling” and many would regard his confessed failures as “not just mystifying but deeply alarming”.
A Church of England spokesperson said the BBC’s interview with Welby would be a “reminder to Smyth survivors of their awful abuse and its lifelong effects”.
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a member of the now disbanded CofE Independent Safeguarding Board, said if Dr Welby felt overwhelmed, think how it must feel for the victims and survivors.
On Twitter / X, Fr Alex Frost said he was “aghast” at the interview and others described it as Dr Welby’s “Andrew moment”.
The Independent said his comment on forgiveness showed “a still further lack of judgement”.