00:00After 11 and a half years leading the Church of England,
00:04Justin Welby has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
00:07It comes after the publication of an independent review into the Church's handling of allegations
00:13of physical and sexual abuse committed by John Smythe at Christian camps in the 1970s and 80s.
00:21The Macon report concluded Welby had not done enough to formally alert authorities about the
00:27abuse committed by Smythe after being made aware of the allegations in 2013,
00:32the year Welby was installed as Archbishop.
00:35His was a rapid rise to the top of the Anglican Church.
00:39He had only served as Bishop for two years, having been appointed Bishop of Durham in 2011.
00:44He became a Christian whilst a student at Trinity College Cambridge in the 1970s.
00:50However, he went on to spend 11 years working in the oil industry
00:54before training for the priesthood and being ordained in 1992.
00:59He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury for 70 years
01:02to preside over the funeral and coronation of a monarch,
01:06following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III.
01:18He was knighted by the King in the 2024 New Year Honours for his services at the coronation.
01:24It's quite the day.
01:28Very overwhelmed by it really and thinking of all the people I worked with
01:34who did the hard work and I just wandered around looking colourful.
01:40Welby also officiated at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018,
01:45and has christened Prince William and Princess Catherine's three children,
01:49George, Charlotte and Louis.
01:52As Archbishop of Canterbury, Welby was also the head of the Global Anglican Communion,
01:57a body of some 85 million worshippers and one which was a challenge to keep together.
02:03In 2023, the Church of England voted to approve blessings for same-sex couples.
02:09This is a moment of joy and celebration.
02:13We have actually made decisions and they are decisions which change
02:19our approach to LGBTQI plus people.
02:25However, Welby was criticised by churches in Africa, America and Asia
02:30of going too far in these reforms and by others of not going far enough.
02:35The Archbishop of Canterbury sits in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual,
02:40and Welby has been outspoken on a number of political and social issues.
02:45The Rwanda Asylum Plan.
02:47Subcontracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda,
02:56is the opposite of the nature of God.
03:00Brexit.
03:01They have to be certain that it can be managed in a way that the most vulnerable do not suffer.
03:09And most recently, assisted dying.
03:11No amount of safeguards can perfect the human heart.
03:16No amount of regulation can make a relative kinder or a doctor infallible.
03:22There is an irony that a man known for being so open about his family and personal life
03:27has come to resign because of his silence.
03:30Justin Welby says he hopes his decision to resign
03:33makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change
03:38and its commitment to creating a safer Church.
03:41However, both the Church and whoever Welby's successor may be
03:45know that one resignation at the top does not solve the issue of safeguarding.
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