The scandal that led to his resignation Justin Welby it was called “only the tip of the iceberg”, as other bishops warn Church of England “it is not a safe institution.”

Jayne Ozanne, a prominent LGBT+ activist who served on the Council of Archbishops, said Justin Welby’s resignation must be a “turning point” for the Church.

Ms Ozanne told the BBC: “This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many other abusers who have been covered up for the good of the church.

“We need to look again at how we empower and allow leaders to speak up when they disagree, rather than muzzle them.

“When you’re just working as a pack and you’re silent, that silence is deafening, especially for survivors.”

Mr Welby said on Tuesday that his decision to step down… which came after days of pressure following a damning report about the abuse cover-up – it was in the interest of the Church.

Victims of John Smyth, a lawyer who ran Christian summer camps and is believed to be the most prolific abuser associated with the Church, have called for further resignations from senior members of the clergy involved in the scandal.

It came as the Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty, said she could not guarantee abuse was not still happening in the Church.

“We still have this institutional problem where we don’t put victims and survivors at the center. In some ways, we are not a safe institution,” she said.

She added that she believed Mr Welby “did the right thing” but his resignation “will not solve the problem”.

“It’s frustrating for me because in many ways I’ve worked hard to make churches safer places. No institution, nothing, can ever be safe, but there’s been a lot of really good work going on,” she said.

“This is about institutional change, our culture and a systemic failure, so we need to do more.”

Keith Makin, who led the independent review, said last week that “despite efforts by some to bring the abuse to the attention of the authorities, the responses of the Church of England and others have been completely ineffective and constituted a cover-up”. .

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who said he was speaking “as an Anglican, not a government minister”, said it was the “absolutely right decision” for Mr Welby to step down, but church leaders should not believe that “one head make it happen. “.

He told him Today There are “profound and fundamental issues not just of practice but of culture around safeguarding that need to be taken seriously”.

In his resignation statement, Mr Welby said he was stepping down “in grief for all victims and survivors of abuse” and that the past few days had “renewed my deep and long-felt sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures. “.

The review concluded that Smyth could have been brought to justice if the archbishop had formally reported him to the police in 2013.

Over five decades in three different countries and involving up to 130 boys and young men from the UK and Africa, Smyth subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual assaults, permanently scarring their lives.

He died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while being investigated by Hampshire police and “was never brought to justice for the abuse”, the review said.

Justin Welby’s automatic parole could be in doubt over his “failures” to alert authorities to John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse of children and young people, it emerged.

The Archbishops of Canterbury were by convention granted life peerages, allowing them to continue to sit in the Lords when they retired.

But a Downing Street spokesman refused to confirm Welby would receive the honour.

Mr Welby’s successor will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, with Stephen Cottrell – the Archbishop of York – among the possible successors.

Stephen Cottrell will take on the role of temporary leader of the Church of England as the selection process takes place.

Other leaders for this role include Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London; Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford; Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells; Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester; and Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich.