England is a country that has been quietly losing its religion for many decades. The Church of England has been the nation’s official church since 1534, back in the reign of Henry VIII. But nowadays, its role is increasingly marginal, with falling congregations and limited influence.
Although vicars are seen as either fustily out of touch or rather embarrassing in their attempts to make Christianity contemporary, the church’s image is largely benign. With its village fêtes and other comforting traditions, the church is seen as a harmless piece of social furniture by most city dwellers, and an integral part of life in the countryside.
All that may change with the scandal that led to the recent resignation of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans. Welby departed under pressure following the publication of a much-delayed report into a barrister and lay reader called John Smyth, who used to run camps to build young Christian leaders. One participant was Welby, who thought Smyth an impressive figure.
The barrister presented himself as a righteous evangelist, but he was actually a prolific abuser of boys and young men, savagely beating more than 100 of them – some with astonishing violence – for psycho-sexual purposes dressed up as punishment for “sins” such as masturbation. In other words, he was yet another sadistic pervert who got access to boys by making a performance of his faith in God.
When the Christian charity of which he was chairman learnt of his depravities – after one of his victims tried to kill himself – it didn’t call the police or notify other authorities. Instead, it set up a fund to send Smyth to Zimbabwe, where he carried on abusing boys. One of his victims died, but the court case against Smyth collapsed, it is thought due to his political connections in the country.
Welby has said he didn’t know anything about Smyth’s sadism, although he apparently contributed to the fund to send him to Africa. He acknowledges that he was officially told of Smyth’s history of abuse in 2013, but didn’t act on the information. Smyth died in 2018 without ever facing justice.
It is possible Welby, who would have been distracted by a big new job, is genuine in his protestations of innocence; nonetheless, he doesn’t emerge well from his story. Nor do any of the people who sent Smyth to Africa, where he was able to continue his crimes under less scrutiny.
For a long time, the Church of England has looked with a mixture of condescension and anxiety at the multiple abuse scandals involving priests and nuns across the Irish Sea. The effect of one sordid revelation after another has left the Catholic Church with a hugely diminished role in Ireland.
It has been a century since religion played the part in England that Catholicism, until very recently, did in Ireland. But the Church of England still has 26 bishops and archbishops in the House of Lords. The church presides over the coronation of the monarch (it was Welby who crowned King Charles) and is a fundamental part of the constitutional framework.
However, campaigners for survivors say a number of scandals are likely to break out in the wake of Welby’s resignation, with other abusers still in prominent positions.
In a secular multicultural society, the Church of England’s constitutional privilege is not easy to defend. It can be ignored when controversies are avoided, but not when people can see that the church is just as prone to creeps, hypocrites and whack-jobs as any other institution that claims to have a direct line to God.
England, on its best days, is still a tolerant society. That tolerance will quickly drain if there are many more Smyths who’ve sought sanctuary in the church.
