Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ‘sorry’ for hurt caused by his final speech in the Lords

The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised “wholeheartedly for the hurt” his final speech in the House of Lords caused.

In his comments in the chamber on Thursday, Justin Welby drew laughter from some peers when he mentioned a 14th-century beheading, but his words and the tone of his speech were criticised by a bishop as well as abuse survivors.

On Friday, in a statement released through Lambeth Palace, he said: “Yesterday, I gave my farewell speech in the House of Lords, as part of a debate on housing and homelessness.

“I would like to apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt that my speech has caused.

“I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse, and by the far-reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse.

“It did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so.”

The archbishop resigned after the independent Makin review found John Smyth – the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.

At the time of his resignation, Mr Welby, whose last day in the job will be 6 January, said he was quitting “in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse”.

On Friday, in an apparently specific reference to Smyth’s abuse, Mr Welby said he takes “both personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors”.

“I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures.”

In his speech, Mr Welby said that the fallout of the review required “a head to roll”.

A male victim of Smyth’s abuse, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was “appalled”, accusing Mr Welby of being “tone deaf”.

“He has resigned in shame, burdened by the Makin Review with ‘moral and personal responsibility’ and all he can do is joke about rolling heads.”

Read more:
Why has Justin Welby resigned?
Who was John Smyth?

The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the only bishop to call publicly for Mr Welby’s resignation last month, said people had messaged her “expressing dismay at the archbishop’s speech” and she herself was “deeply disturbed” by parts of it.

Conservative former minister Lord Robathan expressed regret at the manner in which Mr Welby was “driven out of his post in a sort of witch hunt”, adding there was a “huge number of other people” who had failed to take action on Smyth’s abuse.

Across five decades in three different countries, involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.

Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018 while still under investigation by Hampshire Police.