The Archbishop of Canterbury has been accused of lying after he claimed to be unaware of the severity of child abuse by evangelical Christian John Smyth. Smyth, a barrister who ran Christian youth camps,

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, has stepped down following an investigation that concluded he failed to report serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps to authorities promptly upon learning of it.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the most senior leader in the Church of England, has resigned over his handling of a child abuse case, according to his official account.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England, has resigned amid the fallout from a long-running abuse scandal.

Justin Welby said he had to take responsibility for failures since he was notified about abuse committed by John Smyth.

The Church of England faced pressure on Wednesday to ensure people are held to account for systematically covering up allegations of abuse, one day after the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over a church abuse scandal.

A report found Justin Welby took insufficient action into allegations against John Smyth, believed to be “the most prolific serial abuser” associated with the Church of England.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned after a review found he and other Anglican Church leaders covered up "prolific and abhorrent" abuse of boys and young men.

Justin Welby spent his 11 years as Archbishop of Canterbury trying to prevent the global Anglican communion from fracturing, often struggling to please liberals or conservatives as they fought over homosexual rights and women clergy.