The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he takes “personal and institutional responsibility” for the mishandling of a number of high-profile abuse cases in the Anglican Church since taking over in 2013.

“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 with pain with all victims and survivors of abuse,” Welby, who was chosen as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury said in 2012 in a statement.

Although not accused of abuse himself, Welby has been criticized for his response to a series of abuse cases within the church he led. Calls for Welby’s resignation have reached a fever pitch in recent days, led by victims of notorious Anglican serial sex abuser John Smyth.

A prominent lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, the late Smyth was later found to have committed physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological coercion against more than 100 boys and young men in several countries.

A highly anticipated November 7 of 253 pages report written by independent reviewer Keith Makin provided a scathing indictment of Welby’s handling of the Smyth case.

According to the report, Smyth crossed paths with Welby around the time Smyth committed his abuse. Welby insisted the two were never close, despite the two exchanging Christmas cards for a time and Welby making minor donations to Smyth’s missions in Zimbabwe.

Other church officials were informed of Smyth’s abuse as early as 1982. In 2013, after taking over as archbishop, Welby was verbally informed of Smyth’s abuse, but said he mistakenly believed that the police and local authorities were informed and chose not to take it further. action, the report states.

The report also faults the Church of England itself for not prioritizing safeguarding, despite having formal safeguarding policies, saying the implementation of these policies has been inconsistent and often inadequate.

“Welby suggests that he would certainly have been ‘more active’ if he had known about the seriousness of the offenses in 2013. The evidence contained in this review suggests that he knew enough to have raised concerns after being informed in 2013.” the report shows.

“Our view … is that Justin Welby had a personal and moral responsibility to continue this regardless of the politics at play at the time.”

Following the release of a 2017 documentary that publicly exposed Smyth’s abuse, Welby issued a statement and gave interviews expressing concern for victims, who felt Welby’s response was delayed and failed to prioritize their needs. He eventually met with some victims in 2021 and issued a public apology on behalf of the church.

Welby, in his statement, said that asks him to resign in the last few days after the publication of the Makin report “I have renewed my deeply felt and deep sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England”.

He asked for prayers for his wife, Caroline, and their six children.

“I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I love dearly and which I have been honored to serve. I pray that this decision will point us back to the love that Jesus Christ has for each of us,” he concluded.

Further contextualizing Welby’s resignation is a reckoning over recent years of child abuse in the UK, with an independent inquiry from 2022 uncovering consistent and widespread failures in various institutions, including the Church of England, to adequately protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

This report faulted the church for repeatedly prioritizing its reputation over the welfare of children and for a tendency to downplay the seriousness of the offences, and noted that safeguarding arrangements within the church were woefully inadequate until 2015, when resources have been significantly increased under Welby’s leadership.

As head of the Church of England, Welby considerable weather resistance from Conservative Anglican leaders after he chairs the Church of England’s governing body in early 2023 voting to bless same-sex couples.

The Global South Fellowship of the Anglican Churches (GSFA)which claims to represent up to 75% of the world’s Anglicans, issued a statement at the time accusing the Church of England of breaking communion with provinces that remain faithful to a biblical view of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Debate over same-sex marriage had simmered in Anglicanism for decades, and the Anglican Communion was significantly fractured in 2003 when the Episcopal Church in the US voted to ordain a gay man in a same-sex relationship .

During his tenure, Welby participated in several meetings and ecumenical activities with Pope Francis.

In the summer of 2023, the pope traveled with Welby and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, on a “pilgrimage of peace” to South Sudan. Meeting with approximately 2,500 refugees from South Sudan on February 4, In 2023, Protestant leaders joined Pope Francis for a final blessing on the participants. They later appeared together at an ecumenical prayer service which attracted about 50,000 people.

In January, Welby celebrated an Anglican mass in the Catholic Basilica of St. Bartholomew, located on the Tiber Island in the Tiber River in Rome, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Also, Welby celebrated a second ecumenical vespers with Pope Francis for the solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul Beyond the Walls.