LONDON (AP) — The only Church of England bishop to publicly request resignation of the former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said on Wednesday that his departure was not enough to address the church’s “profound failure” to protect vulnerable people or ease the trauma suffered by victims of abuse.

Welby, 68, resigned on Tuesday after an independent review found that he did not alert the police as soon as he learned of serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps. This failure allowed the man to continue abusing boys and young men for another five years, the Makin Review said in a report published last week.

Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, said it was right for Welby to step down, but his departure would not solve the institution’s failings. Her comments echoed those of the victims and at least one senior government minister.

“This resignation does not resolve the profound failure of the church to protect and the continuing trauma caused to victims and survivors of church-related abuse, nor does it excuse others whose dereliction of duty is exposed by the Makin report,” Hartley said in a statement. .

It was not immediately clear who would replace Welby, and the process could take months.

Welby’s resignation rocked the church and sent ripples around the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, which has more than 85 million members in 165 countries, including the Episcopal Church in the United States. While each national church has its own leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.

Welby, a former oil executive who left the industry in 1989 to study for the priesthood, was a controversial figure even before the scandal. A skilled mediator who has worked to resolve conflicts in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa, he has fought to unite the Anglican Communion, which has been torn by sharply divergent views on issues such as gay rights and the place of women in the church .

The Church of England on Thursday published the results of its independent inquiry into John Smyth, a prominent lawyer who the report alleged sexually, psychologically and physically abused around 30 boys and young men in the UK and 85 in Africa from the 1970s until his death. in 2018.

The 251-page report concluded that Welby did not report Smyth to the authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, shortly after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner and many victims could have been spared the abuse, the inquest found.

Church of England authorities first learned of the allegations against Smyth in 1982 when they received the results of an earlier investigation into his conduct. The recipients of that report “participated in an active cover-up” to prevent its findings from coming to light, the Makin Review found.

Mark Stibbe, one of Smyth’s victims, applauded Welby’s decision but said it was not enough.

“I think the survivor group would like more resignations because that means more accountability — people taking responsibility for being silent when they should have been speaking up,” Stibbe told Britain’s Channel 4 television on Tuesday.

Welby initially refused to resign, saying he had not informed law enforcement agencies about Smyth because he had been incorrectly told that the police were already investigating and should not do anything to interfere with their work. Even so, he took responsibility for not ensuring that the allegations were pursued as “vigorously” as they should have been.

When he eventually decided to resign, Welby said the inquiry had exposed the “long-standing conspiracy of silence” about Smyth’s abuse.

“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,” Welby said in a statement announcing his resignation. “As I resign, I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.”

Welby’s supporters claimed he was instrumental in changing the culture of the church and providing more resources to protect victims of abuse.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, speaking in a personal capacity, said there were still deep and fundamental issues for church leaders to address.

“What I would say – and I speak as an Anglican, not as a government minister – to other leaders of my church is that you don’t think rolling a head solves the problem,” he told the BBC.

Hartley said that while the church has taken some steps to change its culture of safeguarding, that progress is “undermined by the arrogance of a few”.

“Now is the time for a proper conversation about honesty, trust, transparency, independence and accountability when it comes to safeguarding and the Church of England, and I for one welcome this opportunity wholeheartedly,” she said.