The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said he "would like to apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt" caused by his final speech in the House of Lords, which was strongly criticised as having made light of serious safeguarding failures in the Church of England.

A statement from Most Rev Justin Welby published on the Lambeth Place website reads:

“Yesterday, I gave my farewell speech in the House of Lords, as part of a debate on housing and homelessness.

“I would like to apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt that my speech has caused.

“I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse, and by the far reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse.

“I did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors, or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so.

“It remains the case that I take both personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors.

“I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures.”

It follows condemnation of what victims of John Smyth, the Church of England’s most prolific serial abuser, said was a ‘tone deaf’ speech in which Archbishop Welby appeared to show no remorse or contrition for the church’s failings to properly handle the case.

The Archbishop’s statement comes shortly after the Archbishop of York Most Rev Stephen Cottrell offered an apology to victims and survivors saying the Church of England has "much to learn from others" after the Makin Review into Smyth’s abuse exposed "shameful" safeguarding failings.