Justin Welby has told the BBC he forgives a serial abuser at the heart of a scandal that led to his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury.
In his first interview since quitting in November last year, Welby said his forgiveness of John Smyth - arguably the most prolific abuser associated with the Church of England - was "irrelevant" and it was more important to help victims "rebuild their lives".
Smyth, who died in 2018, attacked more than 100 boys and young men in the UK and Africa over decades.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj929xd84e3o
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In his first interview since resigning, Welby, 68, told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that the sheer scale of the problem was "a reason – not an excuse" for his failure to act after taking the job in 2013.
"Every day more cases were coming across the desk that had been in the past, hadn't been dealt with adequately, and this was just, it was another case - and yes I knew Smyth but it was an absolutely overwhelming few weeks," he said.
The Makin Review - an independent report led by safeguarding expert Keith Makin - found Smyth's "horrific" and violent abuse of more than 100 children and young men in England and Africa was covered up within the Church of England for decades.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89y9g83e92o
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How gracious of him to forgive a serial child abuser because it made him lose his job. He should be tried as an accomplice imo.