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Finally, Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over church child abuse scandal

Published

1 month ago

November 12, 2024

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, shown on November 21, 2023, resigned on Tuesday. The most senior official in the Church of England was accused of failing to reprimand a prolific child abuser. Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty Images
CNN
—
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the most senior leader in the Church of England, has resigned over his handling of a child abuse case, according to his official account.

Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury,” Welby said in a statement on Tuesday.

Pressure had been mounting on Welby in recent days, following an independent review into “sickening abuse” committed by John Smyth, a deceased British lawyer considered the worst serial abuser linked to the Church of England.

The incriminating report, commissioned by the church and released November 7, tracked a “worrying pattern of deference” to Smyth, concluding that “a serious crime was covered up.”

In Welby’s resignation statement, he said the review “has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.”

“When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow,” Welby added. “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

In his statement, the archbishop said the “exact timings” of when he officially leaves office were yet to be decided and would be established “once a review of necessary obligations has been completed.” It leaves open the possibility that the archbishop will remain in position over the Christmas period, while the process of finding his successor is expected to take many months. Welby, 68, will turn 70 on January 6, 2026, the retirement age for bishops in the Church of England, which meant he only had a little over a year left in post.

While it is custom for Archbishops of Canterbury to be elevated to the House of Lords, Britain’s upper parliamentary chamber, after they leave office, the circumstances of Welby’s resignation will likely bring opposition against such a move.

Welby, a former oil executive, took up his post in March 2013 and was chosen as a skilled manager alongside his ability to hold different groups in the church together and focus on evangelization. However, disagreements over same-sex relationships have fractured church unity and have tested his authority.

On abuse, he described himself as “ashamed” of the church, although insisted he sought to improve the church’s response including dramatically boosting personnel numbers for its national safeguarding personnel. Nevertheless, problems persisted, and last year the chair of the church’s safeguarding office resigned.

A resignation by the Archbishop of Canterbury is extremely rare in the church’s history, and a resignation over the handling of abuse is without precedent. Welby’s decision to stand down underlines how the scourge of sexual abuse has damaged the credibility of the church, with accountability demanded of its leaders.

Summer camps
Smyth perpetrated “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks” on as many as 130 boys and young men, with abuse spanning from the 1970s up until his death, in 2018 – according to the Makin Review.

He was accused of abusing his own family members, as well as attendees of evangelical Christian summer camps he helped run for students from Britain’s prestigious private colleges in the 1970s and 1980s.

From 1984 to 2001, when Smyth relocated to Zimbabwe and then South Africa, church officers “knew of the abuse and failed to take the steps necessary to prevent further abuse occurring,” the report added. Welby worked at the summer camps that Smyth helped run. The pair exchanged Christmas cards and Welby donated small sums of money to his “missions” in Zimbabwe.

In 2017, Channel 4 News reported on Smyth’s abuse. After the publication of the independent review earlier this month, Welby told the network he “did not” ensure the allegations were pursued as “energetically” and “remorselessly” as they should have been, when he rose to the highest rank in the church, in 2013. He was first ordained as a priest in 1993.

The church’s review found that there was a “missed opportunity” in 2012 and 2013 by the highest levels of the church to “properly” report him to law enforcement.

The review said that “it is not possible to establish whether Justin Welby knew of the severity of the abuses in the UK prior to 2013,” adding: “It is most probable that he would have had at least a level of knowledge that John Smyth was of some concern.”

The Bishop of Newcastle was the most high-ranking church official to call for Welby’s resignation. On Monday, Helen-Ann Hartley told the BBC that it would be untenable for members of the clergy to “have a moral voice… when we cannot get our own house in order.”

Throughout his tenure, Welby has demanded accountability from those accused of mishandling abuse, including his predecessor, George Carey, and the former Bishop of Lincoln. Until now, there’s been no historical precedent for an Archbishop of Canterbury resigning over child abuse.

News

‘Putin waiting to meet me as soon as possible’ to end Ukraine war – Trump

Published

18 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

The US President-elect took to the stage AmFest in Phoenix to talk about his contact with the Russian leader.

He told the crowd: “President Putin has said he want to meet with me as soon as possible.”

Trump went on to brand the war “horrible” and stated it needed to end. It is not known whether or not this meeting will take place in person. His comments at the event in the US come as Putin met with another world leader.

Putin held talks in the Kremlin today (December 22) with Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to Moscow by an EU leader since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA agency that the talks would focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries.

Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban visited Russia in July. Orban’s visit drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, hit out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

News

JUST IN: Speed Darlington Granted Bail, Says Lawyer

Published

21 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

Stanley Alieke, the counsel for popular controversial rapper, Darlington Achakpo, aka Speed Darlington, said the singer has been granted bail after nearly a month in police custody.

Alieke disclosed this on his Instagram handle on Monday.

“Apki has been granted bail by the court,” he wrote without including much information.

The rapper was arrested on November 27 while performing at a show in Owerri, Imo State.

His arrest was connected to an alleged abuse of Afrofusion star, Damini Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy.

Darlington’s counsel, Deji Adeyanju also confirmed that Burna Boy was responsible for his arrest.

Darlington had taunted Burna Boy over his affiliation with the embattled United States rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs who is facing multiple charges for sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

This prompted his first arrest. On his arrival, Speed Darlington swore never to back down on calling out the Grammy award winner because of his association with the embattled Diddy.

Earlier, Darlington’s lawyer, Adeyanju said that the singer would be arraigned within 48 hours or be released on bail.

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“Our FREP application for Speed Darlington a.k.a has been granted by the court. He is to be arraigned within 48 hours or released. Issues around injustice may take time but justice will always prevail,” he wrote.

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Police Arrest Herbalist, 3 Others For Beheading Delta Resident, Dump Him In River

Published

24 minutes ago

December 23, 2024

Naijablitznews

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested no fewer than four suspects for allegedly killing a man identified as Paulinus Okon over N30million business deal in Delta State.

It was learnt that the deceased was earlier declared missing and was later beheaded on the 8th of September 2024 at Otokutu area of the state.

Paulinus’ body was said to have been thrown into the river, while one of the suspects, a herbalist, took the head and buried it at his shrine in Otokutu.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda during a press briefing on Monday, identified the suspects as Okeimute Gaga, Efe Onoitiyi, Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph.

The statement reads in part; “It involves the murder of one Paulinus Okon ‘m’ by his bosom friend One Efe Onoetiyi. Paulinus was reported missing on 8/9/2024 by his brother after he went out with his friend Efe Onoitiyi ‘m’ age 30yrs.

“The suspect Efe Onoitiyi who initially denied knowing what happened to Paulinus came to Paulinus’s house to ask his family of Paulinus, he was confronted that the deceased went out with him on that same date which he denied that the deceased did not go out with him.

“On a later date, Efe came back and demanded Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000) from the deceased’s brother that he would use the money to pay a herbalist who can tell them Paulinus’s whereabouts.

“Efe again came and informed the family that Paulinus was kidnapped and he collected a ransom of about twenty million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N20,715,000) from the deceased brother claiming that he was in touch with the kidnappers. When it became obvious that Efe had something to hide, he was arrested and the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) State Headquarters, Asaba.

“On 28th November 2024, I directed the DPO Ekpan to take over the case and ensure that a discrete investigation is carried out to fish out those responsible as the main suspect Efe was not yielding.

“The DPO Ekpan carried out an intelligence led investigation that indicted one Okeimute Gaga ‘m’ aged 48yrs old. Okeimute gaga upon his arrest opened up and confessed that he could no longer hide what happened. Okeimute Gaga narrated how Efe brought Paulinus to Orere River in Otokutu and requested that they kill him.

“The suspect further stated that on the 8th of September 2024 himself, Efe and Sunday Ikpeba, and a 30yrs old herbalist known as Lawrence Joseph tied Paulinus Okon to a stake at night close to Orere River and beheaded him alive. His body was thrown into the river while the herbalist took the head of Paulinus and buried him at his shrine in Otokutu. The DPO Ekpan Police station led police operatives to the shrine in Otokutu where the skull of Paulinus was exhumed and recovered.

“During interrogation, Efe was asked why he killed his friend Paulinus, Efe stated that he saw a building for sale at a cost of thirty million naira (N30,000,000) which he advertised to the deceased and the deceased paid him Thirty Million Naira (N30,000,000) in three instalments, but instead of buying the house, he diverted the money for his personal use, bought two lands and was building a duplex for himself.

“He further stated that he did not know how to explain to the deceased that he had used his money hence he decided that killing him will save him the trouble. Efe and the three other suspects are in custody.”