The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, resigned on Tuesday after a damning report concluded that he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread abuse of boys and young men decades ago at Christian summer camps.
Pressure had mounted rapidly on Mr. Welby, who serves as the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, since the report was published last week. Helen-Ann Hartley, a senior figure in the church and the bishop of Newcastle, called on him to step aside, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer pointedly declined to back him.
Mr. Welby’s resignation brings to an abrupt end an eventful and occasionally stormy tenure, during which he became Britain’s best-known cleric, presiding over momentous public ceremonies like the coronation of King Charles III and becoming an impassioned voice on issues like migration.
But Mr. Welby struggled to hold together a church cleaved between liberals and traditionalists. Though he has not been accused of any abuse himself, he was ultimately brought down by the same type of sex-abuse scandals that have toppled leaders of the Roman Catholic Church.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Mr. Welby said in a statement on Tuesday, confirming that he had sought permission from the king to resign.
