In his speech, Mr Welby told the House of Lords a head had to roll after the publication of the review into the handling of the scandal.
The speech prompted a furious backlash from abuse victims who said it displayed no remorse for the suffering of survivors and said Welby’s delivery of jokes had struck a “frivolous” tone.
“The reality is that there comes a time if you are technically leading a particular institution or area of responsibility where the shame of what has gone wrong – whether one is personally responsible or not – must require a head to roll,” the archbishop said in the Lords on Thursday.
“And there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough.”
He also referred to a 14th century predecessor who had been beheaded, adding: “I hope not literally.”
In a statement on Friday, the archbishop said he wanted to “apologise wholeheartedly” for the hurt he had caused.
“I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse, and by the far reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse,” the statement said.
“It did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors, or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so.
“It remains the case that I take both personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors.
He concluded: “I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures.”
Joanne Grenfell, Julie Conalty and Robert Springett, Church of England lead bishops for safeguarding, wrote to some abuse survivors after Mr Welby’s speech, calling it “mistaken and wrong”.
“Both in content and delivery, the speech was utterly insensitive, lacked any focus on victims and survivors of abuse, especially those affected by John Smyth, and made light of the events surrounding the Archbishop’s resignation,” the letter said.
“It was mistaken and wrong. We acknowledge and deeply regret that this has caused further harm to you in an already distressing situation.”
The letter said the church had “seriously failed” to meet its safeguarding obligations “over many years” and described Mr Welby’s speech as “the antithesis of all that we are now trying to work towards in terms of culture change and redress with all of you”.
This article was originally published at www.bbc.com
