Welby announces he is resigning after an independent report found he did not tell police about abuse allegations.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, has announced his resignation, saying he failed to ensure a proper investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse by a Christian summer camp volunteer with dozens of years ago.

In his resignation letter on Tuesday, Welby said he must take “personal and institutional responsibility” for the lack of action on the “heinous abuses”.

“The last few days have renewed my long-felt and deep sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England,” Welby said.

“I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England takes the need for change and our deep commitment to creating a safer church. As I resign, I do so in pain with all victims and survivors of abuse,” he said.

Welby, 68, resigned five days after the independent Makin report singled him out for criticism over his handling of abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s.

The report found that John Smyth, a British barrister, subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “brutal and appalling” abuse over a 40-year period.

Smyth beat some victims with up to 800 strokes of the cane and provided diapers to absorb the bleeding, the report said.

He would then drape himself over his victims, sometimes kissing their necks or backs.

Smyth was chairman of the Iwerne Trust, which funded Christian camps in Dorset, England, where Welby worked as a hostel officer before being ordained.

The report said Smyth moved to Africa in 1984 and continued to commit the abuse in Zimbabwe and South Africa until close to his death in 2018.

“Failures and Omissions”

The report said the Church of England at its highest level knew about allegations of sex abuse in the camps in 2013, and Welby learned of the allegations the same year, months after he became archbishop.

Welby apologized for “failures and omissions” but said he had “no idea or suspicion” of the allegations before 2013. The report concluded that this was unlikely, accusing him of failing to fulfill his the “personal and moral responsibility” to ensure a proper investigation.

She added that if the claims had been reported to police in 2013, there could have been a full investigation and Smyth could have faced charges before he died.

Church procedures for appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury require a body of clergy and a president appointed by the British prime minister to propose two names.

The Bishop of Norwich Graham Usher and the Bishop of Chelmsford Guli Francis-Dehqani were invited to succeed Welby and become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.