Following Justin Welby's resignation, over 30 Church of England officials face being sacked: Report

Justin Welby said on Tuesday (Nov12) that he would step down as theArchbishopof Canterbury and also resign as the spiritual leader of the global Anglican communion after a review published last week revealed that the Church of Englandcovered up prolific abuse of boys and young men.

Welby faced mounting calls to resignover the review described a barrister who ran summer camps for young Christians, John Smyth, as the most prolific serial abuser associated with the Church of England as it is also known.

Smyth was held responsible for the violent abuse of at least 115 children and young men in England, Zimbabwe and South Africa, including caning some. He died in 2018.

Over 30 Church of England officials face being sacked

Following Welby's decision to step down, more than 30 officials of the church named in the review face being sackedover their failure to stop the most prolific child abuser in the institution’s history, a report by The Telegraph on Wednesday said.

The review was published by Keith Makin, a former social services director. It found that Smyth's abusewas covered up by “powerful evangelical clergy.”

At least 30 members still hold influential roles within church

The church's national safeguarding team was examining the actions of at least 30 officials named in the review as having prior knowledge of allegations against Smyth, The Telegraph report said.

These individuals were believed to still holdposts or influential roles within the church. The safeguarding team was assessing whether their actions justifiedtermination.

One of the individuals named in the report isRev Canon Andrew Cornes, a central member of the Crown Nominations Committee, the secretive body responsible for appointing the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The review highlighted that despite Cornes beinginformed of Smyth’s abuse by a victim in 1982, he remainsin the running to help select the Archbishop’s successor.

(With inputs from agencies)