Reader Rebecca Turner said: “He didn’t know it was ‘so serious’. One would have assumed that all abuse of children was ‘serious’ enough to act?”
John Bowes highlighted Mr Welby’s word choice: “Notice his language, he did not know anything ‘as horrific was going on’. Or, put another way, ‘I knew something was going on, and choose to do nothing.’”
An anonymous reader, who was bewildered by Mr Welby downplaying the serious allegations made to him, argued: “He was ‘unaware ‘of the severity of the crimes’. Pardon? This was child abuse.
“There is no severity threshold by which it suddenly becomes a heinous crime, it’s child abuse for goodness sake. By that logic would he also ignore a serial murderer if he was unaware of the barbarity of the killings?”
‘His inaction enabled this man to commit more crimes’
In 2018 John Smyth was investigated by Hampshire police but died in the same year. Mr Welby’s failure to report him in 2013 meant Smyth was never brought to justice.
William Taylor laments the awful consequence of the inaction, which he says “enabled this man to commit more crimes. Simple facts which he seems unable to grasp”.
Paul Stanfield finds it incomprehensible that Welby failed to understand the need to investigate the allegations against Smyth.
As a member of the Church of England he explains: “I have just redone Church of England Safeguarding online training. It is quite clear that a concern should lead to action. The Archbishop who unwisely meddles in politics has paid no heed to the Church’s own safeguarding principles.”
‘Instead of doing his job he’s been chipping in with Left-wing politics’
Some readers, such as A.D. criticise Welby’s use of his position as the head of the Church to act as a political pressure group.
“He has been the head of the Church of Woke for more than a decade – destructive Left-wing liability ruining the country instead of doing his day job and chipping in with Left-wing politics when nobody asked his views,” he said.
Following Mr Welby setting up for the Church of England a £100 million fund to “address past wrongs of slavery”, Mandy B. criticised this moral grandstanding and proposed that the Church address its more recent failings: “I would also suggest that instead of opining about ‘reparations’ for slavery, the next incumbent looks at compensation for those poor boys who were abused”.
Finally reader David J. concluded: “This is a man who has no moral compass whatsoever — he has presided over the debasement of the Church of England and emptying out of his churches throughout the land. He deserves the humiliation and ignominy that is surely coming.”
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