The Archbishop of Canterbury is today facing more calls to resign over his handling of abuse committed by the late barrister John Smyth.
A petition calling for Most Rev Justin Welby to stand down has so far gathered more than 12,000 signatures.
The Dean of Chapel at King's College Cambridge, Ven Dr Stephen Cherry has added his voice, telling the BBC that Archbishop Justin "really needs to now tender his resignation and allow there to be significant change."
He added that "the pain in the victim community and the pain of not listening to people and not responding to people who are profoundly hurt by those in positions of power means that this is no longer a person who can carry the representative role of that office."
His words echo those of the Bishop of Newcastle, Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley who yesterday said the Archbishop's position was "untenable".
The petition was started at the weekend by three members of the Church's General Synod following publication of an independent review into the Church of England's handling of abuse by the late barrister John Smyth.
It says the position of Justin Welby is now untenable after the report found serious failings in the culture, structures, and leadership of the Church of England. It also said Archbishop Welby held a personal and moral responsibility to pursue reports of Smyth’s abuse, something he failed to do. The petition says that 'for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church he must stand down.'
The controversy is now spreading beyond the church into politics.This morning, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the victims of John Smyth had been "failed very, very badly", but would not comment directly on whether the Archbishop of Canterbury should quit saying: "It's a matter, in the end, for the church, but I'm not going to shy away from the fact of saying that these are horrific allegations and that my thoughts are with the victims in relation to it."
However, writing on social media site X, Reform leader Nigel Farage said: "Archbishop Welby has overseen the collapse of the Anglican Church in this country. Yet, for all his progressive positions, he turned a blind eye to terrible abuse. He must go."
This morning the Cabinet minister Ed Miliband was asked by ITV's Good Morning Britain whether the Archbishop should resign, but he said that while the abuse by Smyth was "horrifying and appalling" he wouldn't "second-guess decisions for the Church of England."
The Labour MP Marsha de Cordova, who represents the Church of England in the House of Commons, said it was a “stark reminder that the church has much more work to do” to clean up its act. But she stopped short of backing calls for Archbishop Welby to resign.
The report, by independent reviewer Keith Makin described Smyth as the Church of England’s most prolific serial abuser – he abused around 130 boys and young men over four decades beginning in the 1970s and 80s at Christian summer camps.
Justin Welby said he was told of the abuse in 2013 but didn't properly act upon it. The report says that left Smyth free to continuing abusing victims in South Africa where he lived until his death in 2018.
A statement issued by Lambeth Palace yesterday said the archbishop had “apologised profoundly both for his own failures and omissions, and for the wickedness, concealment, and abuse by the church more widely...
“As he has said, he had no awareness or suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013 — and therefore having reflected, he does not intend to resign.”