The Archbishop of Canterbury: “You’ll always have abusers. It’s not something you can be complacent about.”
Thursday 3 October 2024
In a new interview published today, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, discusses how abuse in the Church of England has been addressed under his leadership.
He told the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall of Alcluith, during an interview for his podcast:
“It is a dismissal offence in the Church to cover up abuse now. And that happens. We've had a significant number of independent reports. We have a whole system in place now. The budget's gone up from £50,000 to over £20 million a year. It's something you cannot be complacent about.”
In this wide-ranging interview, the Archbishop also discussed his difficult childhood, describing how he and his parents had to evade rent collectors growing up.
“Growing up was pretty complicated to put it mildly. And there was a lot of moving around, moonlight flit on one occasion to avoid the rent, I think that was probably the case with my father who was drinking very heavily at the time.”
He also reflected on the high profile but “human” moments of his tenure, including making two mistakes during the King’s Coronation and being profoundly moved during the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin in Westminster Hall.
When asked about the the role of the Bishops in the House of Lords, he said:
“I think they make a huge contribution. But if Parliament decides otherwise, that's the prerogative of the House of Commons to decide, and obviously we accept that. I think it would be a great pity.”
