Archbishop resigns over lack of action on sex abuse scandal

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned “in sorrow” on Tuesday, saying he had failed to ensure there was a proper investigation into allegations of abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps decades ago.

Welby, the most senior bishop of the Church of England, and the leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide had faced calls to resign after a report last week found he had taken insufficient action to stop one of the Church's most prolific serial abusers

In his resignation letter, Welby said he must take "personal and institutional responsibility" for a lack of action on the "heinous abuses".

"The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England," Welby said. "As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse."

Welby's tenure covered a decade of major upheaval in which he was forced to navigate splits over homosexual rights and women clerics between liberal churches, mostly in North America and Britain, and their conservative counterparts, especially in Africa.

The Anglican churches in African countries such as Uganda and Nigeria are likely to welcome his resignation, after saying last year they no longer had confidence in him.

His successor’s main challenges will include holding together the fractious worldwide Anglican community.

Cape Times