James O'Brien discusses why the Archbishop of Canterbury failed to address child abuse scandal | LBC

The Archbishop of Canterbury is under mounting pressure to quit over his handling of an abuse scandal, with a bishop saying "his position is untenable". A petition by some members of the General Synod - the church's parliament - has gathered more than 9,000 signatures urging Justin Welby to stand down over his "failures" to alert authorities about "abhorrent" abuse of children and young men. Earlier, the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, the highest-ranking Church official, urged the Most Rev Justin Welby to step down, following a "horrific, horrendous, and shocking" report into a barrister thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the institution. Last week, revelations came to light that he did not adequately follow up on reports of "sadistic" John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse involving more than 100 boys and young men. The Makin review into the abuse concluded that he might have been brought to justice had the Archbishop of Canterbury formally reported it to police a decade ago. Smyth was thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the church. A victim of Smyth described the failure to act as a “dereliction of duty” and a betrayal of victims. James O'Brien reflects on his time at Catholic school, where a 'number of monks engaged in the sexual abuse of his peers'. Listen to the full show on Global Player: https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/... #jamesobrien #archbishop #justinwelby #church #religion #uknews #ukpolitics #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup