Today the Archbishop of Canterbury showed his true colours as he bid farewell to the House of Lords (for now). As one of the survivors of John Smyth tweeted, "Tone deaf, offensive to victims, and just awful."
For those who cannot believe that Justin Welby would be so crass, Hansard records the relevant part of his Valedictory Speech:
"My Lords, it is often said and it is a cliché to say it—but hey, I am the Archbishop still—that if you want to make God laugh, make plans. On that basis, next year, I will be causing God more hilarity than anyone else for many years, because the plans for next year were very detailed and extensive. If you pity anyone, pity my poor diary secretary, who has seen weeks and months of work disappear in a puff of a resignation announcement.
The reality, which I wish to start with—then pay some thanks, and then talk about housing—is that there comes a time, if you are technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility when the shame of what has gone wrong, whether one is personally responsible or not, must require a head to roll. There is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough. I hope not literally: one of my predecessors in 1381, Simon of Sudbury, had his head cut off and the revolting peasants at the time then played football with it at the Tower of London. I do not know who won, but it certainly was not Simon of Sudbury.
The reality is that the safeguarding and care of children and vulnerable adults in the Church of England today is, thanks to tens of thousands of people across the Church, particularly in parishes, by parish safeguarding officers, a completely different picture from the past. However, when I look back at the last 50 or 60 years, not only through the eyes of the Makin report, however one takes one’s view of personal responsibility, it is clear that I had to stand down, and it is for that reason that I do so.
Next, I want to say thank you to so many people in the House. In these 12 years, I cannot think of a single moment when I have come in here and the hair on the back of my neck has not stood up at the privilege of being allowed to sit on these Benches...."
It appears that Justin Welby is determined to be the hero of his own story - using the power he has to address the nation to gaslight every survivor of church abuse in the country.
This is the man, more than anyone else, who is meant to set an example to all the clergy in the Church of England and Anglican Communion as to how to shepherd the people of God. He should be modelling what it looks like to be a pastor who cares, whatever the cost to themselves, for the ordinary people they are privileged to lead. As Archbishop of Canterbury he had the opportunity to embody for all the people in the church how to care for victims well and put the needs of survivors at the heart of all we say and do. And he failed.
Yet, not only did he fail when he was not curious enough to ask the right questions in Paris, when he was too busy to follow up the complaints that were made in Lambeth, and when he broke his promises to meet the survivors, he has also failed to live out what true repentance looks like.
Sadly, the Archbishop of Canterbury has told the world that being 'in' with his powerful audience in the House of Lords was more important to him than doing the right thing.
Thanks to Priscilla du Preez from Unsplash for the image
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