Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, the Anglican Church’s top clergyman, announced his resignation on Tuesday after facing mounting pressure to step down over his handling of a decades-old abuse scandal.

Welby had faced days of mounting pressure to resign after an independent investigation found he failed to tell police about decades of serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps in 2013.

“It is clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Welby said. a statement.

The Archbishop said: “I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England takes the need for change and our deep commitment to creating a safer church. As I leave office, I do so with a heavy heart and with all victims and survivors of abuse.” he said. He said he was resigning “in the interests of the Church of England”.

Hours earlier, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepped up the pressure on Welby, saying Smyth’s victims had “failed very, very badly”.

What do we know about the harassment scandal?

Last week, the independent Makin Report criticized Welby’s handling of abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s. British lawyer John Smyth subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “brutal and horrific” physical and sexual abuse over 40 years, the report said.

Smyth was chairman of the Iwerne Trust, which financed Christian camps in Dorset, England, and Welby worked as a dormitory warden before being ordained.

The Church of England was aware of allegations of sexual abuse in the camps at “the highest level” in 2013, according to the report, and Welby learned of the accusations at least that same year, months after he became archbishop.

Smyth moved to Zimbabwe in 1984 and later moved to South Africa. He continued to abuse boys and young men in Zimbabwe, and there is evidence in South Africa that the abuse continued until his death in August 2018, according to the report.

Smyth’s abuse was not made public until a 2017 investigation by Britain’s Channel 4 television. This prompted Hampshire police to launch an investigation. At the time of his death, police planned to question Smyth. They were preparing to return him too.

Who could replace Welby?

Welby’s tenure spanned a decade of turmoil in which he navigated disagreements over gay rights and female clergy, mostly between liberal churches in North America and Britain and conservative churches, especially in Africa.

Anglican churches in African countries such as Uganda and Nigeria are expected to welcome Welby’s resignation. Last year they said they no longer trusted him.

Church procedures for appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury require a panel of clergy and a chair appointed by the British Prime Minister to put forward two names.

It has been claimed that Norwich Bishop Graham Usher and Chelmsford Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani will succeed Welby and become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Usher is in favor of gay rights and outspoken about the need to combat climate change. Francis-Dehqani was born in Iran and described how her brother was killed following the Iranian revolution. She will be the first woman to hold this position.

dh/sms (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)