The Archbishop of Canterbury last night apologized to the victims of ‘the most prolific child abuser associated with the Church of England’, admitting he had ‘personally failed’.

John Smyth’s ‘disgusting’ abuse of more than 100 children and young people was covered up by the Church for years, an independent review published yesterday said.

It concluded that the CofE had knowledge since July 2013 of the barrister and lay reader’s abuses at the ‘highest level’ in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Archbishop Justin Welby ‘profoundly apologized’ last night ‘not only for my own failings and negligences, but also for the wider evils, concealments and abuses of the Church’. He also considered resigning.

The review, chaired by former social services director Keith Makin, also singled out the Archbishop for failing to report Smyth’s abuse to police, finding he and other CofE leaders ‘could and should have done’ this in 2013.

Mr Makin said: ‘The response of the Church of England and others was completely ineffective and amounted to a cover-up.’

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby carries a wooden cross as he attends the Witness Walk of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Maidstone, Kent

John Smyth’s (pictured) ‘disgusting’ abuse of more than 100 children and young people was covered up by the Church for years, an independent review published yesterday said.

Smyth abused up to 130 boys over five decades in three different countries, subjecting the victims to physical, sexual and psychological assaults that left a permanent mark on their lives.

The review said he died aged 77 while being investigated by Hampshire Police in Cape Town in 2018 and was therefore “never brought to justice”.

Channel 4 reported last night that Smyth’s victims are calling for Archbishop Welby’s resignation following the report.

A boy named Guide Nyachuru died ‘under suspicious circumstances’ at one of Smyth’s camps in Zimbabwe.

The archbishop apologized on behalf of the Church in 2017, when the allegations were made public, and apologized personally after meeting with Smyth’s victims in 2021.

He knew Smyth from a Christian camp in Dorset in the late 1970s but said last night he had ‘no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013’.

The review said: ‘He knew John Smyth and had reason to have some concerns about him generally, but this is not the same as suspecting John Smyth of serious misconduct.’

The archbishop apologized on behalf of the Church in 2017, when the allegations were made public

He also issued a personal apology after meeting Smyth’s victims in 2021.

The court found that Smyth should have been formally reported to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa in 2013 by church officials, including the diocesan bishop and Archbishop Welby.

The letter said: ‘Had this been done, on the balance of probabilities John Smyth could have been brought to justice at a much earlier point than the subsequent investigation carried out by Hampshire Police in February 2017.

‘Opportunities to establish whether he continues to pose an abusive threat in South Africa have been missed due to this inaction by senior church officials.’

The report said that although around 30 boys and young men were known to have been abused in the UK and around 85 in African countries, the total number was ‘likely to be much higher’.

Smyth was able to move to Zimbabwe and South Africa while ‘church officials knew of the abuse and failed to take appropriate steps to prevent further abuse from occurring’.

The report states: ‘John Smyth is arguably the most prolific serial abuser associated with the Church of England.’

Speaking to Channel 4 News on Thursday, Mr Welby said: ‘I’ve actually been thinking about it (resigning) for quite some time now, there’s nothing more horrific than dealing with a lot of abuse over the last decade. cases.

‘I’ve given this matter (resigning) a lot of thought and just this morning I took advice from senior colleagues and no, I will not resign.’

Asked on Thursday morning whether he was considering resigning, Mr Welby said ‘yes’.

Mr Welby told Channel 4 News: ‘A lot of people funded his mission there (in Zimbabwe). I think I gave away £40 or £50 on two separate occasions.’

Mark Stibbe, a survivor of Smyth’s abuse, told Channel 4 some boys were beaten so hard they shed blood and had to wear nappies.

He said the abuse had been covered up by people “at the highest levels of the Church of England”.

‘It’s very sad,’ he said.