Church of England leader Justin Welby resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, resigned on Tuesday over his handling of a physical and sexual abuse scandal. 

An investigation discovered that he did not immediately inform police about abuse allegations involving a volunteer at Christian summer camps. The perpetrator allegedly inflicted “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks” on as many as 130 boys and young men from the 1970s to 2018, according to an independent review.

“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Welby said in the statement on Tuesday. “I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honored to serve.”