The 105th Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his willingness to forgive layman and barrister John Smyth, the accused serial child-beater whose actions led to the archbishop’s resignation.
Former Archbishop Justin Welby mentioned forgiveness in response to a question on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg program. He was quick to emphasize that his forgiveness was not important compared to that of Smyth’s victims, and that he has never told such victims they must forgive Smyth. “I have never, ever said to a survivor, ‘You must forgive,’ because that is their sovereign, absolute, individual choice,” Welby said. “Everyone wants to be forgiven, but to demand forgiveness is to abuse again.”
The interview was another instance of Welby’s ambivalent actions since the Smyth scandal ended his tenure sooner than he had planned. He appeared on one of England’s more popular programs to say he wishes to fade into “total obscurity.” He responded testily when Kuenssberg questioned his assertion that he knew nothing of Smyth’s behavior before 2013: “You can believe it or not. I did not have a clue.”
Welby said he remains deeply ashamed of the jocular remarks he made in the House of Lords at the time of his resignation. “It was entirely wrong and entirely inexcusable,” he said. “I wasn’t in a good space at the time. I shouldn’t have given a valedictory speech at all.”
Welby was mostly unguarded during the interview. He wore a blue shirt without a clerical collar, and stressed that whether he will continue his ministry of mediation and reconciliation is a decision for the Church of England.
The interview led to critical remarks by longtime religion journalist Damian Thompson of The Spectator, who interviewed the Rev. Fergus Butler-Gallie, vicar of St. Marys and All Saints in Charlbury and editor at large of The Fence magazine. Both Thompson and Butler-Gallie described Welby as “tin-eared,” both in the interview and throughout his tenure.
“I’m not sure another interview by the archbishop is what was required,” Butler-Gallie said. “I think a period of repentance and reflection, a period of perhaps more meaningful engagement with those victims who do still feel very aggrieved, would have been a more effective way of safeguarding his legacy, if that’s indeed what we was intending to do.”
Thompson said Welby was slow to meet with Smyth’s victims, “even when it was safe to do so.”
Celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Raj Persaud, a contributor to the Daily Express, discussed the Welby interview in a YouTube video. Persaud challenged the notion that forgiveness can lead to greater healing. “I’m not sure it is at all clear that forgiveness is the right route to go down.” Persaud said that Welby’s repeated reference to being guided by the police’s advice was an excuse for inaction.
Douglas LeBlanc is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. John’s Parish Church on Johns Island, South Carolina.