Welby’s PR firm for Global Reconciliation follows his failed Reign as Archbishop of Canterbury

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

April 28, 2026

NEWS ITEM: The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a company, JPW Mediation, to facilitate mediation and global reconciliation. On his Linked In page, he explains that the archbishop “plays a pivotal role in fostering unity and addressing key issues within the church and society.”

Justin Welby's twelve years as Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2024) were, by almost any measure, deeply troubled — ending in one of the most ignominious departures in the role's modern history.

In short his reign was a disaster.

Here is a full accounting of the major failures and controversies that defined his tenure.

The John Smyth Abuse Scandal and Resignation

The immediate cause of Welby's fall was the publication of the independent Makin Report in October 2024. The review found that Welby and other senior church leaders had covered up the "prolific and abhorrent" abuse of over 100 boys and young men in the UK and other countries by a British lawyer, John Smyth.

The report found that Welby and other top Church of England officials first learned of the allegations in 2013, the very year Welby became Archbishop. At that point, they "could and should" have followed up with police, but there was "a distinct lack of curiosity shown by these senior figures and a tendency towards minimisation," with no further questioning or follow-up.

The consequences of that inaction were severe. If Smyth had been reported to police at that time — when he was already in South Africa, where he also abused children — there could have been a full investigation uncovering his crimes, and later victims would have been saved. Smyth died in 2018 and was never brought to justice.

Making matters worse, Welby's comment that he had considered resigning over the report but decided not to do so only served to whip up anger even further. He resigned five days later.

Safeguarding in Systemic Disarray

The Smyth case was not an isolated failure but the most visible symptom of a broader institutional breakdown. The church's safeguarding project was already in disarray, with first one and then a second chair of its independent safeguarding panel resigning. The second, Meg Munn, who quit in July 2023, issued a damning statement saying that a General Synod debate on safeguarding was a debacle, that the Archbishops' Council was slow to listen and understand, and that Welby had undermined her.

The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told the BBC: "I think, rightly, people are asking the question: 'Can we really trust the Church of England to keep us safe?' And I think the answer at the moment is 'no.'"

The Fracturing of the Anglican Communion

Perhaps Welby's deepest structural failure was presiding over the near-disintegration of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which he was supposed to lead and hold together.

GAFCON, representing 85 percent of the Anglican Communion, officially rejected Welby and the Church of England for failing to guard the faith from leaders who embrace practices "contrary to Scripture."

The Archbishop of Uganda, Stephen Kaziimba, released a statement detailing how his Church had lost trust in Welby's authority because of his "inability to uphold the historic and biblical teaching" of the Church of England on marriage and family, saying: "Unfortunately, this is the same compromised leadership that has led to the fabric of the Anglican Communion being torn at its deepest level."

The Sexuality Controversies: Pleasing No One

Welby's handling of LGBTQ+ questions proved to be a case study in failed leadership — alienating conservatives without fully satisfying progressives, and repeatedly contradicting himself.

In 2023, he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury while in office to accept blessings of thanksgiving for same-sex couples, after the House of Bishops put forward a proposal. He then abstained on a General Synod vote to allow standalone same-sex church blessing ceremonies on a trial basis — attempting to keep objectors on side while the policy moved forward anyway.

Then, weeks before his resignation, on a popular political podcast, Welby was asked whether gay sex is sinful and replied that "all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship, whether it's straight or gay" — a statement the Church of England Evangelical Council called "devastating," marking "a clear departure from the doctrine of the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, and every other major Christian denomination across the world."

Peter Lynas, head of the Evangelical Alliance UK, captured the incoherence well: "In that moment, he redefines the Church of England's sexual ethic. And yet, he does and he doesn't, because he can't."

Even after his resignation, Welby continued to wade into the debate. At the Cambridge Union, he claimed his previous views opposing same-sex relationships were due to him being "a bit thick" — prompting critics to note that he appeared to be dismissing the theological position of the vast majority of Christians throughout history as mere intellectual failure.

The Overall Legacy

Welby came to the role through an unorthodox route — transferring from running a multimillion-pound business to a mid-life vocation — and his Anglican career was meteoric: a parish priest for just over a decade, then Dean of Liverpool and Bishop of Durham for just a year before taking on the most senior role in Anglicanism. Nothing in his previous career could truly prepare him for the politics and internal fighting in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.

One senior Church of England clergyman who had served alongside him on the Archbishops' Council concluded that Welby had done "immense damage to the Church of England — damage that it is going to take a decade, or in some instances a generation, to undo."

It is a verdict that is hard to argue with. On safeguarding, on institutional unity, on doctrinal coherence, and on his own personal judgment, Welby's tenure fell short at almost every significant moment — and ended in disgrace.

And now Welby wants to start a PR firm on global reconciliation. This is like giving a blind man the helm of a 747 and hoping he can land it safely at LaGuardia airport in a snowstorm.

Whoever hires Welby should obtain a money back guarantee if he fails, as surely, he will.

Welby has raised the level of snake oil salesman to a new level.

Be warned.

END