LONDON (AP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, resigned Tuesday amid the fallout from a long-running sexual abuse scandal.
Welby stepped down after an independent investigation found that he had failed to inform police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.
Here are the answers to some questions about the Church of England, Welby’s decision and its global significance.
The Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, is a Christian denomination and the official church of England. It was created in the 16th century when the English church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church.
The church is part of the global Anglican Communion, a family of churches that has over 85 million members in more than 165 countries. Britain’s monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England and has the power to appoint bishops and other church leaders.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England and is traditionally seen as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. Each of the 46 churches that comprise the Anglican Communion has its own primate, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.
Justin Welby, 68, was the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked in the oil industry for 11 years before he left in 1989 to study for the priesthood.
Welby was ordained in 1992 and worked extensively in Africa and the Middle East before he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013. Though a skilled mediator — who has worked to resolve conflicts in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa — he struggled to unite the global Anglican Communion.
Like many Christian denominations, the Anglicans are split by disagreements over the church’s teachings about homosexuality and the role of women. While churches in England and America have become more welcoming to the LGBT community and moved to ordain women priests and bishops, some more conservative churches in Africa and Asia have resisted those changes. Those divisions have weakened the Archbishop of Canterbury’s influence in the Anglican Communion.
An independent investigation last week released its long-awaited report into the late John Smyth, who sexually, psychologically and physically abused more than 100 boys and young men at Christian summer camps in the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa over five decades.
The 251-page report concluded that Welby failed to report Smyth to authorities when he was informed of the abuse in August 2013, soon after he became Archbishop of Canterbury. Had he done so, Smyth could have been stopped sooner and many of his victims wouldn’t have been abused, the report found.
Welby initially refused to resign, saying he was wrongly informed that police had already been notified and he shouldn’t do anything to interfere with their investigation. But his position became untenable after a growing number of church leaders and victims criticized him for failing to take responsibility for the scandal.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024,” Welby said, announcing his resignation.
Yes. Like the Catholic Church, the Church of England has faced a long series of allegations that priests and others affiliated with the church used their positions to abuse young men and women.
An independent inquiry established by the government found that 390 people associated with the church were convicted of child sexual abuse between the 1940s and 2018. Deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide,” the inquiry found.
Welby’s supporters said he was instrumental in changing the culture of the church and improving its safeguarding procedures after he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.
The process of selecting Welby’s successor will begin with the Crown Nominations Commission, which nominates candidates for Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishoprics in England. The commission will send the name of a preferred candidate and an alternate to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will then advise King Charles III on his selection.
The commission has 16 members, including the Archbishop of York, representatives of the clergy and laypeople, a representative of the Anglican Communion and a chair appointed by the prime minister.
FILE - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as he listens to debate at the General Synod in London, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday for an Oval Office visit that's a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
Meanwhile, House control remains in the balance with a dozen races left to be called.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
Biden congratulated Trump. Trump said “politics is tough” and not always a nice world “but it is a nice world today.”
Reporters were quickly ushered out of the room.
Trump arrived a little behind schedule for the meeting with President Joe Biden.
It was scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.
As Trump was appearing on Capitol Hill, Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted educators at the White House to talk about the administration’s work to promote community colleges.
Jill Biden has taught English and writing at community colleges for many years.
At one point she noted that the semester is ending soon and her students are working on their final assignments. Then she said, “Joe and I are also preparing for what’s coming next.”
Biden then made the sign of the cross over himself and smiled. The audience laughed.
Musk, who’s been a fixture of late with Trump, arrived at the GOP conference in Washington just as Trump was coming in to address leaders.
On Tuesday night, Trump said Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would run a panel focused on government efficiency that would be outside government but advise the White House. It’s not entirely clear how the operation will work.
“We won it every way, all seven swing states by a lot,” he said, speaking to GOP leaders in Washington.
Trump commented on the results in Democratic strongholds like New Jersey and California, declaring that winning in the latter state would be “very doable. It would be really doable if they change the election process.”
Trump is speaking to GOP leaders in Washington for the first time since he won the 2024 presidential election.
“It’s always nice to win,” Trump said.
Trump won 312 electoral votes to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 226.
Trump got a standing ovation from House GOP leaders gathered for a conference at a Washington hotel Wednesday morning.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said: “Ladies and gentlemen please stand for the 47th President of the United States.”
Rubio, when asked about it Wednesday, told reporters “those are media reports” and said any news would come from Trump’s transition team.
The Republican Florida senator is a former critic of Trump who’s become one of his fiercest defenders and appeared with him on the campaign trail in the final weeks.
As House Republicans are meeting, two members of Congress trying to come to agreement on border and immigration policy are being honored for their efforts.
Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York and Republican Congressman Morgan Luttrell of Texas began their effort in July.
They were honored Wednesday in Washington by the National Immigration Forum, an organization that promotes the value of immigration in America.
The president-elect walked slowly down the airplane stairs at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, greeted his military greeter and got into the motorcade for the trip to Capitol Hill.
He did not speak with reporters who were there to document his arrival in Washington.
It’s meant to reassure investors in his publicly traded company, Tesla.
The billionaire, in a post on X on Wednesday, shared a message from a shareholder in his company noting that his appointment running a new “Department of Government Efficiency” for President-elect Donald Trump will provide advice and guidance to the new president from outside of government and is limited to 21 months, ending on July 4, 2026.
Musk shared the post with the message: “Important details”
“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” Melania Trump’s office said.
No reason was given for why she didn’t accept the invitation.
The Bidens had extended congratulations and a joint invite to the Trumps to meet at the White House. The spouses typically meet upstairs in the residence while the president and president-elect meet in the Oval Office.
Donald Trump is making a victor’s return to Washington.
The president-elect’s plane landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday morning. President Joe Biden — both Trump’s successor and predecessor to the presidency — will welcome him to the White House for an Oval Office visit. It’s a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
Trump also planned to meet with congressional Republicans as they focus on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for a potentially unified government with a GOP sweep of power in the nation’s capital. His visit, amid Republican congressional leadership elections, could put his imprint on the outcome.
▶ Read more about Trump and Biden’s meeting
The vice president is spending the morning in meetings at her official residence, according to a person with knowledge of her schedule.
If she does show up later — either at the White House or the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where most of her staff works — it likely wouldn’t be until after Trump leaves.
— Chris Megerian
Tom Emmer of Minnesota says he’s expecting Trump to talk to House Republicans about how to “restart America’s economy by unleashing American energy,” sealing the southern border and removing immigrants who entered illegally under President Biden.
“I expect him to give a great message today, more like a locker room speech getting everybody ready for what’s coming in January,” Emmer said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
Billionaire Elon Musk will join Trump in Washington, according to a Trump aide.
The SpaceX owner, who Trump just named to a government efficiency advisory role in the new administration, is not currently expected to be at Trump’s meeting with Biden at the White House.
Musk will join Trump’s earlier meeting with House Republicans before he and Biden meet in the Oval Office. He’s been a steady presence at Trump’s side since the election.
It was Biden’s poor performance at that debate that led Democrats to start pressuring him to drop out and let another candidate take on Trump.
Biden pulled the plug on his campaign weeks later and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She lost to Trump in last week’s election.
President-elect Donald Trump is on his way to Washington to meet with Republican congressional leaders on Capitol Hill and President Joe Biden at the White House.
Trump’s plane took off from the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, around 7:30 a.m. ET for the roughly two-hour flight to the U.S. capital.
A meeting between the incoming and outgoing president is tradition but then-President Trump didn’t invite Biden to the White House after he lost to the Democrat in 2020.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says it was important to Biden to invite Trump because he believes in the “norms” and a peaceful transfer of power.
Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could shape the future of the Senate, and the party, as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been scrambling to win the most votes in the secret ballot election, promising a new direction in the Senate even as they furiously compete for Trump’s favor. It will be the first test of Trump’s relationship with Congress after he won the election decisively and claimed a mandate for his agenda.
It’s uncertain who will win.
▶ Read more about the GOP’s decision
The U.S. Capitol is seen on a sunrise on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The Latest: Trump returns to Washington to meet with Biden and GOP lawmakers
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump smiles at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The Latest: Trump returns to Washington to meet with Biden and GOP lawmakers
