The parable of Justin Welby

When Channel 4’s Cathy Newman summed up the Church of England’s John Smyth scandal as showing that ‘the church had neither process nor kindness’, Justin Welby agreed. It was hard for the Archbishop of Canterbury not to. Welby’s downfall was in no small part due to his neglect of the right process, one which puts victims and survivors first. As Welby – who resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury this week – said: ‘You can have kindness without process and nothing happens’.

The Makin review into the church’s handling of the abuse allegations against Smyth shows what happens when things aren’t done by the book. It reveals details of meetings in Lambeth Palace in 2017 between a small unrepresentative group of victims and palace officers, despite ‘police advising against any meetings’. What victims wanted was the Archbishop. Instead, unable to have him, behind the scenes they got a traditional Anglican fudge that blurred the boundaries further.