Now Justin Welby faces losing seat in House of Lords after quitting as Archbishop of Canterbury in 'shame' over his failure to stop Church of England's most prolific child abuser leaving the instituti

The Church was in turmoil last night after the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned in 'shame'. Pictured: September 2022 John Smyth is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England In a statement, Dr Welby said: 'Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury' Last night Downing Street declined to say whether Mr Welby would receive the life peerage customarily given to former Archbishops of Canterbury, with a source adding that it is 'not automatic'. A general view of the chamber as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II addresses the House of Lords, during the State Opening of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby waits to address the General Synod in Assembly Hall on February 13, 2017 In an unprecedented step, Mr Welby said yesterday he had sought permission from the King to step down 'in the best interests of the Church' At the COP29 summit today, Keir Starmer said that findings in the review by Keith Makin that Smyth abused more than 100 boys and young men are 'clearly horrific' and that his victims 'have obviously been failed very, very badly' It is understood that the King exchanged 'private words' with the Archbishop yesterday morning. He is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to be forced out of the role after failures meant an abuser was never brought to justice Last night survivors warned Mr Welby should not be 'a sacrificial lamb' and that other senior clergy implicated in the scandal should also quit Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, said Dr Welby's resignation was 'the right and honourable thing to do' He added: 'A lot of us can see that if Welby ends up becoming the sacrificial lamb then it's not healthy for the Church, it's not healthy for him and it's not healthy for survivors. Survivors of Smyth’s abuse also called for Mr Welby to go and three members of the Church’s ruling body, the General Synod, started a petition calling for him to step down.