Justin Welby, former Archbishop of Canterbury from 2013 to 2024, hid behind a façade of piety, but his 11-year tenure exposed a legacy of moral failure and duplicity. Resigning in November 2024—the first such exit in over 1,000 years—he fled not from grace but from scandals he ignored. His actions reveal a man who shielded predators, courted elites, and embraced alleged war criminals while preaching righteousness.
Shielding Smyth: A Predator’s Protector
John Smyth, the Church’s most prolific abuser, terrorized over 130 boys across decades. Welby, aware of Smyth’s crimes by 2013, stayed silent. The 2024 Makin Review called his inaction “inexplicable.” Victims suffered while Welby led a complicit Church. In a March 2025 BBC interview, he claimed he’d forgive Smyth, dismissing it as “irrelevant”—a hollow excuse from a man who let evil thrive.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj929xd84e3o
Political Hypocrisy: Targeting Corbyn, Ignoring Evil
Welby never endorsed the Tories outright, but his actions hinted otherwise. In 2017, he pushed for “stability”—a Tory slogan under Theresa May. In 2019, he criticized Tory lies but stayed silent on endorsements, while attacking Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn. At a 2023 JW3 event, he expressed “revulsion” for Corbyn, yet ignored Smyth’s victims—a glaring irony in his selective moral outrage.
Elites and the WEF: A Hidden Agenda?
Welby courted global elites, speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and writing for their platform. His WEF author page, archived until November 2024, touted him as a moral leader—ironic for a man who failed his Church. By March 2025, his profile vanished, raising questions: Did he erase his elite ties, or did the WEF clean house? Either way, it’s secrecy from a man whose compass points to hell.
Embracing Evil: Netanyahu and Israel’s Genocide
In 2017, Welby shook hands with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, claiming peace talks. Now, Netanyahu faces ICC warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza since October 2023. The UN, HRW, Amnesty, and ICJ accuse Israel of genocide—killing over 30,000 Palestinians, starving millions, and displacing nearly 2 million through collective punishment and ethnic cleansing, while Israel’s self-defense claims mirror history’s atrocities—wherein Nazis, Ottomans and Rwandans masked genocide as survival.
Enabling Corruption: Vennells and the Horizon Scandal
Welby also failed to challenge Paula Vennells, ex-Post Office boss behind the Horizon scandal, which wrongfully prosecuted sub-postmasters. In 2019–2020, Vennells sat on the Church’s ethical investment committee as the scandal unraveled. In February 2024, Welby admitted “more questions should have been asked” about her role, but he did nothing. Worse, the BBC reported he had “pushed her application and was seen as a supporter” when Vennells was shortlisted for Bishop of London in 2017, the third most senior Church role, while she was Post Office CEO. His silence enabled corruption, mirroring his inaction on Smyth and embrace of Netanyahu—a pattern of shielding evil.
A Devil’s Legacy
Welby’s pattern isn’t inconsistency—it’s complicity. He attacked Corbyn fiercely but forgave Smyth, ignored Church abuses, hobnobbed with elites, and shook hands with those accused of genocide. His 2024 resignation doesn’t redeem him—it damns him. Welby’s not a shepherd; he’s a devil in disguise.
Source: iq2qq/Grok
References
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-71588450 – BBC News: Justin Welby resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury over abuse scandal (November 15, 2024).
https://news.sky.com/story/who-was-john-smyth-the-barrister-at-the-centre-of-the-church-of-england-abuse-cover-up-13329727 – Sky News: Who was John Smyth, the barrister at the centre of the Church of England abuse cover-up? (November 12, 2024).
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/22/justin-welby-church-should-have-asked-more-questions-about-ex-post-office-boss – The Guardian: Justin Welby: Church should have asked more questions about ex-Post Office boss (February 22, 2024).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/09/justin-welby-moment-of-opportunity-near-in-middle-east-conflict – The Guardian: Justin Welby: ‘moment of opportunity’ near in Middle East conflict (May 9, 2017).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50593306 – BBC News: General election 2019: Archbishop of Canterbury warns over political dishonesty (November 28, 2019).
https://web.archive.org/web/20241102054044/https://www.weforum.org/stories/authors/justin-welby/ – Wayback Machine: Archived World Economic Forum author page for Justin Welby (November 2, 2024).
https://www.weforum.org/stories/authors/justin-welby/ – World Economic Forum: Author page for Justin Welby (current, inaccessible as of March 30, 2025).
https://x.com/daveberkeleyuk/status/1856080167313006943 – X Post by Dave Berkeley: Critique of Justin Welby shaking hands with Netanyahu (November 11, 2024).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_genocide – Wikipedia: Gaza genocide (accessed March 30, 2025).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68828258 – BBC News: ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over war crimes (November 21, 2024).
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1227074293/international-court-of-justice-south-africa-israel-gaza-genocide – NPR: ICJ rules it’s plausible Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (January 26, 2024).
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/israel-opt-you-feel-like-you-are-subhuman/ – Amnesty International: “You Feel Like You Are Subhuman” – Israel’s genocide in Gaza (December 2024).
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/20/israelpalestine-war-crimes-gaza-must-end – Human Rights Watch: Israel/Palestine – War Crimes in Gaza Must End (November 20, 2024).
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf – United Nations: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).