After an 11-year career in the oil industry, Welby trained for ordination at St John's College, Durham. He served in a number of parish churches before becoming Dean of Liverpool in 2007 and Bishop of Durham in 2011, serving in the latter role for just over a year before succeeding Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury in February 2013.[3][4]
On 12 November 2024, Welby announced his intention to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury; this followed the publication of a report critical of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth that criticised Welby's failure to investigate the allegations.
Welby's mother, Jane, was Sir Winston Churchill's personal secretary from December 1949 until her marriage to Gavin Welby in April 1955.[8] Shortly before her marriage she had a brief relationship with Churchill's private secretary, Anthony Montague Browne (1923–2013).[9] For 60 years Welby believed that Gavin Welby was his biological father until a paternity test in 2016 showed that he was Browne's son.[7]
Gavin Welby (born Bernard Gavin Weiler in Ruislip, Middlesex)[10][11] was the son of Bernard Weiler, a German-Jewish immigrant and importer of luxury items who changed the family name to Welby during the First World War.[10][12][13][14] He stood for Parliament as a Conservative candidate in the 1951 and 1955 general elections.
Welby has described his early childhood as "messy". Gavin and Jane Welby, who were both alcoholics, divorced in 1959 when he was 3 years old,[15] and he was placed in Gavin's custody. In 1960 Gavin was engaged to the actress Vanessa Redgrave, who called the engagement off after her mother, Rachel Kempson, wrote to Vanessa's father, Sir Michael Redgrave, describing Gavin as "a real horror ... a pretty rotten piece of work".[16] Gavin died in 1977 of alcohol-related causes.[15]
Jane stopped drinking in 1968, and in 1975 married Charles Williams, a business executive and first-class cricket player who was made a life peer in 1985. Williams was the nephew of Elizabeth Laura Gurney, a member of the Gurney family of Norwich who were prominent Quakers and social reformers, and was remembered by Welby as being a supportive step-father. Commenting on his mother's death in 2023, Welby said that it had been "a privilege to be her son".[17][8]
Extended family
In 2024, Welby released a personal statement revealing that, through his biological father, Anthony Montague Browne, he was the great-great-great-grandson of Sir James Fergusson, 4th Baronet (1765–1838), who owned slaves on his plantation in Jamaica and received compensation from the British Government in 1837 following the abolition of slavery.[18][19] Through his biological father, Welby is also descended from Admiral Adam Duncan and Robert Stewart, the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland.
In a 2013 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Welby related his conversion experience when he was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. He said that, while he was at Eton, he had "vaguely assumed there was a God. But I didn't believe. I wasn't interested at all." However, during the evening of 12 October 1975 in Cambridge, praying with a Christian friend, Welby said that he suddenly felt "a clear sense of something changing, the presence of something that had not been there before in my life". He said to his friend, "Please don't tell anyone about this." Welby said that he was desperately embarrassed that this had happened to him.[23] In a 2014 interview, Welby said that his conversion had come when his friend had taken him to an "evangelistic address" which he found to be poor. After this, his friend "simply explained the Gospels" to him. Welby said that from that point onwards he "knew the presence of God".[24] He has since said that his time at Cambridge was a major moment of self-realisation in his life.[23]
Welby worked for eleven years in the oil industry, five of them for the French oil company Elf Aquitaine based in Paris. In 1984 he became treasurer of the oil exploration group Enterprise Oil plc in London, where he was mainly concerned with West African and North Sea oil projects, and spent part of his career in Nigeria. He retired from his executive position in 1989 and said that he sensed a calling from God to be ordained.[26]
In July 2013, following the report of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Welby explained that senior bank executives avoided being given information about difficult issues to allow them to "plead ignorance".[27] He also said he would possibly have behaved in the same way, and warned against punishing by naming and shaming individual bankers which he compared to the behaviour of a lynch mob.[27]
Ordination and initial church ministry
Welby was at first rejected for ordination by John Hughes, the Bishop of Kensington, who told him "There is no place for you in the Church of England."[28]
He was subsequently accepted for ordination, with the support of the Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Sandy Millar. Throughout his ministry Welby has been linked to the charismatic evangelical wing of the Church of England associated with Holy Trinity Brompton, and in a 2019 interview said "In my own prayer life, and as part of my daily discipline, I pray in tongues every day."[29][30]
Welby has written widely on ethics and on finance, featuring in books such as Managing the Church?: Order and Organisation in a Secular Age and Explorations in Financial Ethics. Welby's dissertation, an exploration into whether companies can sin, marks his point that the structure of a system can "make it easier to make the right choice or the wrong choice."[36] His dissertation led to the publication of a booklet entitled Can Companies Sin?: "Whether", "How" and "Who" in Company Accountability, which was published by Grove Books in 1992. He has said that the Benedictine and Franciscan orders in the Anglican churches, along with Catholic social teaching, have influenced his spiritual formation.[37]
Interviewed by the BBC in 2011, Welby said that to be appointed Bishop of Durham was both challenging and a huge privilege:
"I was astonished to be offered the role. It is a passionate desire to see a church that is vigorously full of spiritual life, serving Jesus Christ and serving those around it."[38]
Welby emerged as a candidate to be the next archbishop of Canterbury; his appointment to the position was announced on 9 November 2012. In January 2013, Welby said that he initially thought it was "a joke" and "perfectly absurd" for him to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, because he had only been a bishop for a short time.[47] His confirmation of election ceremony to the See of Canterbury took place at St Paul's Cathedral on 4 February 2013 (by this, he legally became Archbishop of Canterbury);[3] on the following day it was announced that Welby would be appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, as all archbishops are;[48] the order for his appointment was made on 12 February[49] and he swore the oath on 13 March.[50]
In a 12 July 2013 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Welby addressed questions about his religion. His answers included the following:[23]
Asked whether he can speak "in tongues", Welby answered, "Oh yes, it's just a routine part of spiritual discipline — you choose to speak and you speak a language that you don't know. It just comes."
Asked whether it is necessary "for a true Christian to have had a personal conversion experience", Welby answered, "Absolutely not. There is an incredible range of ways in which the Spirit works. It doesn't matter how you get there. It really does quite matter where you are."
Asked about "his strange and lonely youth", Welby said that "at the time, it felt horrible. Now it feels hugely valuable. God doesn't waste stuff." The interviewer asked Welby whether his family history had "wounded" him. After "a very long" pause, Welby answered, "I assume that I am, but I also assume that the grace of God is extraordinarily powerful in the healing of one's wounds."
Asked whether he knows Jesus, Welby answered, "Yes. I do. He's both someone one knows and someone one scarcely knows at all, an utterly intimate friend and yet with indescribable majesty."
Regarding his religious practices, Welby called himself "a spiritual magpie". The interviewer commented about Welby, "as well as speaking in tongues, he adores the sacrament of the Eucharist. He also says the morning and evening office, Book of Common Prayer version, in the chapel of the palace, every day. For Welby, 'the routine of regular prayer is immensely important in overcoming the ups and downs of human moods.' For his spiritual discipline, Welby uses Catholic models – the contemplation and stability of Benedictines and the rigorous self-examination of Ignatius of Loyola. He also has a spiritual director, the Roman Catholic priest Nicolas Buttet.
The interviewer said that the church "is good at talking, but not at actually doing things to improve the social order." Welby retorted, "Rubbish! It is one of the most powerful forces of social cohesion. Did you know that each month all the Churches – roughly half of the numbers being Anglican – contribute 23 million hours of voluntary work, outside what they do in church? And it's growing. There are now between 1,200 and 2,000 food banks in which the Church is involved. Ten years ago, there were none. There are vicars living in every impoverished area in the country. This springs out of genuine spirituality."[23]
In January 2019, Welby responded to Anglican priests defecting to the Roman Catholic Church by saying "Who cares?" and that he did not mind people leaving to join other denominations as long as they are "faithful disciples of Christ".[53]
In November 2024 Welby faced calls to resign, including from members of the General Synod of the Church of England,[54] following the publication of an independent review (the Makin Review) into the Church's handling of allegations of physical and sexual abuse committed by the barrister John Smyth at Christian camps in the 1970s and 1980s.[55] The report criticised Welby for failing to follow up on his subordinates' claims that they had passed on the matter to the police after he was informed of the allegations in 2013, and stated that it was "unlikely" Welby was not aware of concerns being reported about Smyth during the time of the alleged offences, as he had claimed.[56]
Despite initially stating that he would not resign, on 12 November 2024, following mounting pressure from both victims and clerics, Welby announced that he had spoken to King Charles III, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and would resign.[57][58] Stressing the importance of taking "personal and institutional responsibility" for the "long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses" committed by Smyth and the "long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church", he expressed hope that his resignation would make clear "how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church."[59][60] On 20 November, Lambeth Palace announced that Welby would conclude his official duties by 6 January 2025, after which his official functions would be delegated to the Archbishop of York, and that the end date of his term as archbishop would be set in consultation with the Privy Council.[61]
In a statement, the Church of England's second-most senior bishop, Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York), said that Welby's resignation was the "right and honourable thing to do."[62] Echoing those remarks, other bishops thanked Welby for his "ministry, mission and leadership" while acknowledging the seriousness of the Church's safeguarding failings.[63] The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, who had earlier publicly refused to support Welby, said that he "respects the decision".[56]
Welby's decision to resign was followed by calls for other senior clergy involved in the Smyth cover-up to stand down. The Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty, reiterated that Welby had "done the right thing", but stressed that his resignation alone was "not going to solve the problem" of safeguarding failures in the Church.
The UK Minister for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting, speaking "as an Anglican, not as a Government minister", agreed that Welby should resign but church leaders should not think that "one head rolling solves the problem". Streeting added that there are "deep and fundamental issues of not just practice, but [of the] culture on safeguarding, that need to be taken seriously".[64]
On 20 November Lambeth Palace announced that Welby would "complete his official duties" by 6 January 2025 (his 69th birthday), and that his official functions would thereafter be delegated to the Archbishop of York until a successor is named.[65]
Welby's final speech in the House of Lords on 5 December 2024 was criticised for its tone and content after he appeared to make light of the circumstances of his resignation. The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, said his tone was "unwise to say the least".[66] He issued a statement the following day in which he apologised "wholeheartedly for the hurt that [his] speech has caused".[67]
Controversies
Iwerne camps and John Smyth
In February 2017, Welby apologised unreservedly after allegations that barrister and evangelical Christian John Smyth beat boys in the late 1970s, mainly pupils at Winchester College, until their wounds bled and left permanent scars. Smyth was a senior member of Christian charity the Iwerne Trust in the 1970s and 1980s.[68] These allegations were suppressed by the church for decades, and Smyth was told to leave the UK.[68]
Welby's early grounding in Christian doctrine was rooted in the Iwerne camp network founded by Eric Nash.[69] Welby was a dormitory officer at the camps from around 1975 to 1978, a period that coincides with that of Smyth's child abuse at the same location.[70] From 1978 to 1981, Smyth allegedly carried out a series of brutal beatings on boys and undergraduates, recorded in a report written by Iwerne officer Canon Mark Ruston in February 1982 but not passed on to the police until 2013.[71]
In 2017, Welby described Smyth as "charming" and "delightful".[72] Welby "vaguely recalls" receiving a Christmas card from Smyth in the 1990s, but definitively recalls meeting Smyth in Paris in the 1990s.[73] In 1978, Welby left the UK to work in Paris and Welby stated that "I had no contact with them [the camps] at all." It later materialised that Welby had attended the camp in this period[clarification needed] and had continued to receive the camp newsletter.[74] Andrew Atherstone, in the biography Risk-taker and Reconciler, describes Welby as having been "involved in the camps as an undergraduate ... businessman and theological college student in the 1980s and early 1990s."[75]
In 2012, a victim of Smyth reported the abuse to the Church of England and Welby was informed in 2013. Welby maintained that this was the first he heard of Smyth's abuses.[71]The New York Times on 14 October 2017 quoted a senior Church of England figure as saying that "all senior members of the trust, including officers like Archbishop Welby, had been made aware of the allegations against Mr Smyth, even those who had been abroad". Questions have remained among Smyth's victims as to when Welby first knew, and some have labelled him an "observer", a term denoting a person who knew about abuse but who did not report appropriately.[76] Welby said that he was not part of the inner circle of Smyth's friends and that survivors must come first, not the church's own interests.[77]
An independent review in 2024 noted that Smyth's abuse was not merely physical and psychological, but sometimes sexual in nature, and concluded that the Church of England had covered up the allegations against Smyth for three decades.[78] The report accused Welby of "minimisation" of Smyth's actions and found that he failed to inform church authorities in Cape Town of the risk of abuse. Specifically, the report found that Welby had been informed of Smyth's abuse in August 2013, six months after his elevation to Archbishop of Canterbury,[79] but did not personally ensure that the reports were passed on to the police. Although Welby stated (and the report agreed) that his subordinates told him the authorities had been alerted,[80][79] the report found that the Church failed to use full efforts to ensure that Smyth was investigated and prosecuted. The report found that the Church informally disclosed the matter to Cambridgeshire Police and the Metropolitan Police, but the former did not record the allegations as a crime and the latter passed the matter to Hampshire Police, which initially declined to pursue the matter until a Channel 4 news report.[79] Despite Hampshire Police's belated investigation, Smyth was not prosecuted before his death in 2018.[54]
Welby initially stated that he would not resign after the release of the report.[81] In response, over 1,500 church members called on Welby to step down from his position,[82][83][84] and on 12 November 2024 he announced his decision to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.[56]
Support for Paula Vennells
Welby was criticised for continuing to support Paula Vennells, head of the British Post Office, long after it emerged that the company was prosecuting sub-postmasters for errors caused by the Post Office's Horizon IT system.[85]
Queen Elizabeth's former chaplain, Jeremy Haselock, called for Welby to resign after it was claimed he pushed Vennells' application to become the Bishop of London, the Church's third most senior role.[86]
In the preface to his 2018 book, Reimagining Britain, published after 555 postmasters had launched legal action against the Post Office, Welby said she "shaped my thinking over the years". And in February 2019 she was appointed to the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group,[87] after more than 900 sub-postmasters had been prosecuted because of the faulty software.[88]
In 2024, Welby disclaimed personal responsibility, saying "more questions should have been asked" after the Horizon scandal emerged, and "we will need to reflect on it".[89]
Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches dispute
Brexit has divided the country and now we need a new narrative. One that is rooted in all that is best in our history – solidarity, courage, aspiration, resilience and care for each other. There is a danger that there is a schism in our society into which the most vulnerable are falling. Austerity is crushing the weak, the sick and many others.[93]
In August 2019, Welby called for EU Remainers to "stop whingeing" and accept the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum.[94]
In 2013, Welby disagreed strongly with Lord (David) Freud, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Welfare Reform at the time,[100] because Welby believed the UK government cuts to benefits had caused or contributed to the surge in food banks. Welby cited a Church of England investigation showing social services referred 35% of Durham residents who used food banks when benefits they were entitled to had not been paid. Welby stated:
Maybe he [Lord Freud] has different figures but those were certainly the figures we kept in the churches… We are very strict about our statistics and we don't just hand out food – you have to be referred.[101]
Before Christmas 2013, Welby urged people to give 10% of what they spend at Christmas to food banks.[102]
In December 2014, Welby expressed concern about the increasing need for food banks which he said would have been "unthinkable" a decade before. He called the plight of hungry poor people shocking because he did not expect that in the UK,[103] saying that it was "a very sad fact that they're there, but also it's a great opportunity for the Church to demonstrate the love of Christ."[104]
Fuel suppliers
In 2013 Welby expressed concern about rises in energy prices in the UK, saying that energy companies had a responsibility towards customers and should take account of this rather than only maximising their own opportunities.
The impact on people, particularly on low incomes, is going to be really severe in this [rising energy prices], and the companies have to justify fully what they are doing. (...) They have control because they sell something everyone has to buy. We have no choice about buying it with that amount of power comes huge responsibility to serve society.[105][106]
General election
In the run-up to the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Justin Welby and Archbishop of YorkJohn Sentamu campaigned on the need to address poverty, education, housing and health. The archbishops stressed the importance of "education for all, of urgent and serious solutions to our housing challenges, the importance of creating communities as well as buildings, and a confident and flourishing health service that gives support to all – especially the vulnerable – not least at the beginning and end of life."[107]
High-interest lending
In July 2013, Welby spoke out against payday lending sites and met with Errol Damelin, chief executive of Wonga. Welby pledged that the Church of England would support credit unions as society needs to "provide an alternative" to the "very, very costly forms of finance" that payday lending services represent. He noted that he did not want to make legal payday lending illegal as this would leave people with no alternative to using criminal loan sharks.[108]
Payday lenders lead to people being assured, through impressively slick marketing campaigns and targeted advertisements, that the process of taking out a loan is quick, simple and safe. However, once the loan has been taken out, it is difficult to get out of the cycle. With the rates offered, simply paying off the interest becomes a struggle.[109]
Shortly after this well-publicised intervention in the public debate, it emerged that the Church of England's pension fund had invested money in Accel Partners, a venture capital firm that had invested in Wonga. This led to accusations of hypocrisy, and Welby said that the investment was "very embarrassing" for the church.[110] Welby and the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group were unaware of their investment in Wonga.
Welby also said that the Ethical Investment Advisory Group ought to reconsider rules which allow investment in companies that make up to 25% of their income from gambling, alcohol or high-interest lending.[108]
Inequality
Welby has expressed concern about inequality in the UK. In September 2017 he said, "Our economic model is broken. Britain stands at a watershed moment where we need to make fundamental choices about the sort of economy we need. We are failing those who will grow up into a world where the gap between the richest and poorest parts of the country is significant and destabilising."[111] He has praised the welfare state as a Christian endeavour emanating from the likes of R. H. Tawney, William Temple and William Beveridge. He also said in 2021 that the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom had exacerbated existing inequalities, and called for the building of "a new Beveridge".[96]
Welby's growing political influence led to him being named by the New Statesman as the UK's twenty-seventh most powerful left-wing figure, citing his campaigning for refugee rights, condemnation of austerity, and advocacy against the gig economy.[112]
Islam
In July 2014, Welby acknowledged that there was a problem with Muslim youths travelling to the Syrian Civil War and elsewhere to wage jihad but the numbers were "extraordinarily small", and so he dismissed concerns over the potential for trouble as "hysterical... I think we're in danger of slipping into a very fearful culture".[113] In 2015, he offered his support for British air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria.[114] Welby believes that the problem of Islamic extremism is far deeper than combating Islamic jihadists such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda; and that the Gulf monarchies and Saudi Arabia need to be challenged as their "own promotion of a particular brand of Islamic theology has provided a source from which ISIL have drawn a false legitimization."[114]
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in November 2016, Welby stated that claiming that the actions of ISIS are "nothing to do with Islam" was damaging efforts to combat extremism. Welby stipulated that it was essential to understand the religious motivation behind extremism in order to understand it and, similarly, also criticised the argument that claims that "Christian militia in the Central African Republic are nothing to do with Christianity."[115]
Judaism
In July 2023, Welby attended an interfaith event hosted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews at Bevis Marks Synagogue in London.[116] Welby wore a kippah (Jewish prayer hat) as a mark of respect at the synagogue. While there, Welby met with historian Simon Sebag Montefiore and engaged in a conversation with him as part of the interfaith event. Welby stated that, with regard to Judaism, "There is no question that a country with a large Jewish community will be a better country. It will flourish in almost any area you care to name". Welby referred to antisemitism in Nazi Germany and noted while reading about the German churches' responses to the Nazis that "You saw there that the moment you don't push back against antisemitism, it becomes so engrained – and antisemitic laws or anti-semitic attitudes become permissible, and everything becomes permissible. It's a cancer of extraordinarily rapid growth, which you can't deal with if you leave it for any time".[116]
Palestine and the International Court of Justice advisory opinion
On 2 August 2024, Welby issued a statement in support for the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 by declaring "Israel's presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is unlawful and needs to end as rapidly as possible".[119] The announcement came after what is understood to be a two-week period of reflection.[120]
Persecution of Christians
Welby is concerned that Christians are persecuted in some parts of the world, notably in the Middle East, and fears that some risk their lives going to church.[121] Welby also said that Christians and other religious minorities were made to suffer terribly and were killed in Iraq, which violates article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Welby noted that Christians and other minorities face persecution for their faith in many areas worldwide; he cited Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic among others. Welby urged the United Kingdom to open doors to refugees.[122]
Poverty
Referring to poverty in the UK in March 2013, Welby criticised UK government changes which capped benefits below inflation.
As a civilised society, we have a duty to support those among us who are vulnerable and in need. When times are hard, that duty should be felt more than ever, not disappear or diminish. It is essential that we have a welfare system that responds to need and recognises the rising costs of food, fuel and housing. The current benefits system does that, by ensuring that the support struggling families receive rises with inflation. These changes will mean it is children and families who will pay the price for high inflation, rather than the government.[123]
In a speech at Christmas 2013 Welby said, "Even in a recovering economy, Christians, the servants of a vulnerable and poor saviour, need to act to serve and love the poor; they need also to challenge the causes of poverty."[124][121][125] In a speech at Easter 2013 Welby said, "In this country, even as the economy improves there is weeping in broken families, in people ashamed to seek help from food banks, or frightened by debt. Asylum seekers weep with loneliness and missing far away families."[126]
Referring to poverty in the UK and generally, in 2017 and again in 2021, Welby said that "we should all share concern for the poor and the marginalised, should work to build communities where people act responsibly towards one another, whether we are rich or poor we all have the same dignity. William Beveridge, R. H. Tawney and William Temple played a significant part in establishing the post-war welfare state in the United Kingdom and were committed Christians. We do not have the luxury of saying, 'Something must be done' without doing anything ourselves."[111][96]
Welby has said that justice of the powerful is not justice at all and judges should decide issues based on truth and the common good rather than class and money.[127] Welby quoted Nelson Mandela that "dealing with poverty was a matter of justice rather than charity." Welby felt that speaking out about poverty, fuel bills, financial insecurity affecting families and credit unions is part of the Christian duty to love one's neighbour.[128][129]
Welby has said that insecurity of income is also a problem for many people. He expressed concern that many people cannot save or plan for, for example a holiday because they do not know how much money will be coming in from week to week. In September 2018, Welby said:
You don't know from one week to the next what you'll be earning. And so for people trying to budget, people trying to just save a bit so that, I don't know, once a month they could have fish and chips with their kids or go to the cinema or go down to the beach on a nice hot summer, they can't plan. It comes back to justice and the common good.[130]
Welby also said in 2018:
Certainly there are parts of the country where there's huge deprivation. We see communities caught in a poverty trap. Now, the economy has improved very much in many places but there's a significant group of people who just seem trapped and the system doesn't help them.[131]
Refugees
Welby disagrees with restrictions on child refugees being admitted to the UK. In 2017, he expressed fears that children were vulnerable to exploitation and even death.[132][133]
Our country has a great history of welcoming those in need, particularly the most vulnerable, such as unaccompanied children. Refugees, like all people, are treasured human beings made in the image of God who deserve safety, freedom and the opportunity to flourish. We must resist and turn back the worrying trends we are seeing around the world, towards seeing the movement of desperate people as more of a threat to identity and security than an opportunity to do our duty. We cannot withdraw from our long and proud history of helping the most vulnerable.
In March 2013, Welby stated that "My understanding of sexual ethics has been that, regardless of whether it's gay or straight, sex outside marriage is wrong."[134] He reiterated this belief again later in 2013, further noting that "To abandon the ideal simply because it's difficult to achieve is ridiculous."[135]
Welby does not unequivocally affirm the Church of England's historic opposition to same-sex marriage.[136] At his first press conference he spoke out strongly against homophobia and stated that he is "always averse to the language of exclusion, when what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us." He also said "I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully."[137] Before his enthronement, he stated that he did not have doubts about the church's policy in opposing same-sex marriages but remained "challenged as to how we respond to it". "You see gay relationships that are just stunning in the quality of the relationship", he said, adding that he had "particular friends where I recognise that and am deeply challenged by it".[138]
Welby sees problems with special services of blessing for same-sex couples, saying in 2014: "There is great fear among some, here and round the world, that that will lead to the betrayal of our traditions, to the denial of the authority of scripture, to apostasy, not to use too strong a word and there is also a great fear that our decisions will lead us to the rejection of LGBT people, to irrelevance in a changing society, to behaviour that many see akin to racism. Both those fears are alive and well in this room today [a General Synod meeting in London]. We have to find a way forward that is one of holiness and obedience to the call of God and enables us to fulfil our purposes. This cannot be done through fear. How we go forward matters deeply, as does where we arrive".[139] In 2016, Welby confirmed he had appointed a bishop, Nicholas Chamberlain, (the Bishop of Grantham) who is in a same-sex relationship, and that he supports clergy who are in celibate same-sex relationships in line with the church's policy.[140][141]
Welby has since said that he has become "much less certain" about his stance on human sexuality. In an interview with Alastair Campbell in October 2017,[142] he was asked if same-sex activity was sinful and declined to give a clear answer, saying: "I don't do blanket condemnation of people." When asked if a stable relationship could be between two people of the same sex, Welby said "I know it could be", and accepted that faithfulness and love were the "absolutely central" aspects of relationships, but added:
I am also aware, and deeply held by, the fact that since long before Christianity, within the Jewish tradition, marriage is understood as invariably as between a man and a woman, or at various times, a man and several women … I'm having to struggle to be faithful to the tradition, faithful to scripture, to understand what the call and will of God is in the twenty-first century, and to respond appropriately with love for all people, and not condemning them, whether I agree with them or not.
He also stated that while homophobia was a sin, he did not consider it homophobic to oppose gay sex. In 2023, Welby announced that he supports a proposal by the House of Bishops that maintains that marriage is between one man and a woman but which would also authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples".[143] Speaking of his support for the proposal, Welby said he was "extremely, joyfully celebratory of these new resources" while he also clarified that he will not perform the blessings because of his role as an "instrument of unity" for the Anglican Communion.[144][145] In November 2023, Welby endorsed an additional proposal to authorise "standalone" blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis.[146] He is the first sitting Archbishop of Canterbury to support a proposal to allow blessings for same-sex unions in the Church of England.[147] On 15 November 2023, Welby abstained in the General Synod vote to introduce "standalone services for same-sex couples" on a trial basis saying that his abstention was due to his role as a symbol of unity in the whole Anglican Communion;[148] the motion passed.[149][150] In October 2024, Welby announced that his views on sex had evolved, sharing that his personal view is that sexual intimacy, whether for opposite-sex or same-sex couples, should take place "within a committed relationship", including marriage and civil partnership.[151][152][153]Lambeth Palace reiterated that Welby was expressing his personal view, not necessarily the doctrine of the Church of England.[153]
Social injustice
Welby said in 2018 that social injustice was widespread and entrenched in British society. He said the gig economy was one of many injustices. Welby said in September 2018 that the weakest people got the least secure pensions and the strongest got the most secure pensions, stating:
In these areas, and in employment rights, and in many others, we see that where inequality and profound injustice seem entrenched, insurmountable, it leads to instability in our society: divisions between peoples and vulnerability to the populism that stirs hatred between different ethnicities and religious groups, the rise of ancient demons of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia.[154]
Taxation
Welby said in December 2017 that tax avoidance was wrong and that many wealthy companies did not pay as much tax as they should. Welby said, "It is clear that a company that has a turnover of several billion and yet pays only a few million in tax, something isn't quite working there. It is to do with transfer pricing, there are all kinds of explanations, but people who earn money from a society should pay tax in that society for the common good, for economic justice."[155]
In September 2018, Welby said:
What is clear is that tax should be a fundamental part of being a citizen, and that those who have the most should pay the most. And that no company, through being multinational, being global, can evade the responsibilities of paying its proper amount of tax, based on the revenues it earns in this country. So yes, some people will need to pay more. I'm not going to point at individuals, but certainly we see people and companies that seem not to pay what sounds like a reasonable amount of tax.[130]
Welby also said in 2018:
Not paying taxes speaks of the absence of commitment to our shared humanity, to solidarity and justice. If you earn money from a community, you should pay your share of tax to that community. I was in business, and I know that, within limits, it's right and proper for people to arrange their tax affairs, and for companies to do so. But when vast companies like Amazon, and other online traders – the new industries – can get away with paying almost nothing in tax, there is something wrong with the tax system. They don't pay a real living wage, so the taxpayer must support their workers with benefits, and having leached off the taxpayer once, they don't pay for our defence, for security, for stability, for justice, for health, for equality, for education. Then they complain of an undertrained workforce, from the education they have not paid for, and pay almost nothing for apprenticeships. Those are only a fraction of the costs of aggressive tax management.[154]
In October 2022, Welby criticised the UK government for introducing tax cuts for the wealthy and for pursuing policies that disproportiontely affected the poor.[156]
Universal credit
Welby has expressed concern that Universal Credit is harming poor people and said in September 2018 that its rollout should be stopped. Welby said:
It [Universal Credit] was supposed to make it simpler and more efficient. It has not done that. It has left too many people worse off, putting them at risk of hunger, debt, rent arrears and food banks. When universal credit comes into a local area, the number of people going to food banks goes up. What is clear is if they cannot get it right, they need to stop rolling it out.[154]
Women bishops
Welby has been a strong supporter of Anglican consecration of women as bishops.[157] In November 2013, Welby stated he aimed to ordain women as bishops while allowing space for those who disagree.[158] In February 2014, Welby called on Anglicans to avoid fear, prejudice and suspicion and to grasp "cultural change in the life of the church":
We have agreed that we will ordain women as Bishops. At the same time we have agreed that while doing that we want all parts of the church to flourish. If we are to challenge fear we have to find a cultural change in the life of the church, in the way our groups and parties work, sufficient to build love and trust. That will mean different ways of working at every level of the church in practice in the way our meetings are structured, presented and lived out and in every form of appointment. It will, dare I say, mean a lot of careful training and development in our working methods, because the challenge for all institutions today, and us above all, is not merely the making of policy but how we then make things happen.[159]
Welby would like discipline applied over appointments to prevent opponents of women as bishops feeling alienated. Welby says he hopes to avoid a zero-sum game where people feel gain for one side inevitably means loss for the other, he sees need for caution, co-operation and unity.[160] Slightly revised legislation to allow women to be ordained bishops in the Church of England was agreed in July 2014 and became law in November 2014.[161]
Personal life
Welby is married to Caroline Eaton and they have had six children. In 1983, their seven-month-old daughter, Johanna, died in a car crash in France.[1] Referring to the tragedy, Welby explained, "It was a very dark time for my wife Caroline and myself, but in a strange way it actually brought us closer to God."[162] Welby established a special day for bereaved parents at Coventry Cathedral, where there is now an annual service commemorating the lives of children who have died.[163]
His daughter Katharine has written of her experience of poor mental health. Another daughter, Ellie, has learning disabilities.[164]
Welby acknowledges his privileged education and upbringing, and has been praised for sending his own children to local state schools.[165]
Welby speaks French and is an avid Francophile, having lived and worked in France.[163] An announcement about his appointment as Bishop of Durham listed his hobbies as "most things French and sailing".[163][166]
Books
Welby is the author or co-author of several books, including:
Dethroning Mammon: Making Money Serve Grace (2017)
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. Justin Welby was enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. In late 2024, he announced his resignation, to take effect on 6 January 2025. Welby is the 105th person to hold the position, as part of a line of succession going back to Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great and arrived in 597.
The Church of England is the established Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the origin of the Anglican tradition, with foundational doctrines being contained in the Thirty-nine Articles and The Books of Homilies. Its adherents are called Anglicans.
Since the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However, this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil, South Africa, South India, New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015, and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." In 2017, clergy within the Church of England indicated their inclination towards supporting same-sex marriage by dismissing a bishops' report that explicitly asserted the exclusivity of church weddings to unions between a man and a woman. At General Synod in 2019, the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition. In 2023, the Church of England announced that it would authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, Baron Sentamu, is a retired Anglican bishop and life peer. He was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020.
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. Two of the major events that contributed to the movement were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops. Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest with a long-time partner, was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay non-celibate man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), formerly known as Global South (Anglican), is a communion of 25 Anglican churches, of which 22 are provinces of the Anglican Communion, plus the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Church in Brazil. The Anglican Diocese of Sydney is also officially listed as a member.
Paul Roger Butler is a retired British Anglican bishop and a former Lord Spiritual of the House of Lords. He was installed and enthroned in Durham Cathedral on 22 February 2014 and was the Bishop of Durham, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Durham, from 20 January 2014 to 29 February 2024. On 12 September 2013 it was announced that he had been appointed as bishop-designate of Durham He was previously bishop of Southwell and Nottingham. He was installed at Southwell Minster on 27 February 2010. He served as the suffragan bishop of Southampton in the Diocese of Winchester from 2004 until 2010.
Timothy Martin Thornton is a retired British Anglican bishop. His final post was as Bishop at Lambeth, Bishop to the Forces, and Bishop for the Falkland Islands (2017–2021). He was previously the area Bishop of Sherborne from 2001 to 2008, the diocesan Bishop of Truro (2009–2017), and a Member of the House of Lords (2013–2017).
Peter Ball CGA was a British bishop in the Church of England and convicted sex offender. In 1960 he and his twin brother established a monastic community, the Community of the Glorious Ascension, through which Ball came into contact with many boys and young men.
Steven John Lindsey Croft is a British bishop in the Church of England and a theologian specialising in mission. He has been Bishop of Oxford since the confirmation of his election on 6 July 2016. He was the Bishop of Sheffield from 2008 to 2016; previously he was Archbishops' Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions, a joint Church of England and Methodist initiative. He falls within the open evangelical tradition of Anglicanism.
Rachel Treweek is an English Anglican bishop who has served as Bishop of Gloucester since 2015 and is the first female bishop in the Church of England. A former speech and language therapist, she was the Archdeacon of Hackney in the Diocese of London from 2011 until 2015.
Helen-Ann Macleod Hartley is a British Anglican bishop, Lord Spiritual, and academic. Since 2023, she has served as Bishop of Newcastle in the Church of England. She previously served as Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand from 2014 to 2017, and area Bishop of Ripon in the Diocese of Leeds from 2018 to 2023. She was the first woman to have trained as a priest in the Church of England to join the episcopate, and the third woman to become a bishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical tradition.
Several allegations of child sexual abuse have been made against clergy, members of religious orders and lay members of the Anglican Communion for events dating as far back as the 1960s. In many cases, these allegations have resulted in investigations, trials, and convictions.
Joanne Caladine Bailey Wells is a British Anglican bishop, theologian, and academic. Since January 2023, she has served at the Anglican Communion Office in London as "Bishop for Episcopal Ministry". Previously, she was a lecturer in the Old Testament and biblical theology at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and then associate professor of Bible and Ministry at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, North Carolina; From 2013 until 2016, she had served as Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury; she was then Bishop of Dorking, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Guildford, 2016–2023.
John Jackson Smyth QC was a Canadian-born British barrister and serial child abuser who was actively involved in Christian ministry for children as chairman of the Iwerne Trust which raised funds for, and in practice ran, the influential conservative evangelical Iwerne camps. He acted as lawyer for Mary Whitehouse, a Christian morality campaigner.
Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba is the current Primate of the Church of Nigeria. Prior to his appointment, he was Archbishop of Jos and Bishop of Gombe.
The fifteenth Lambeth Conference was an assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, between 27 July and 7 August 2022. It was the first Lambeth Conference to be held since 2008.
The Makin Review is an independent lessons learnt review into the Church of England's handling of allegations of abuse committed by John Smyth QC, a barrister who had been involved in Christian children's ministry through the conservative evangelical Iwerne camps. After protracted delays, it was published in November 2024, and resulted in the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
↑ Bingham, John (9 November 2012). "New Archbishop Justin Welby pledges re-think on gay relationships". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 November 2012. The Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, who was formally announced as successor to Dr Rowan Williams yesterday, insisted that he supported the Church of England's opposition to same-sex marriage.
↑ "GENERAL SYNOD NOVEMBER 2023 GROUP OF SESSIONS BUSINESS DONE AT 5 P.M."(PDF). churchofengland.org. The Church of England. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023. 7. The motion (as amended) 'That this Synod, conscious that the Church is not of one mind on the issues raised by Living in Love and Faith, that we are in a period of uncertainty, and that many in the Church on all sides are being deeply hurt at this time, recognise the progress made by the House of Bishops towards implementing the motion on Living in Love and Faith passed by this Synod in February 2023, as reported in GS 2328, encourage the House to continue its work of implementation, and ask the House to consider whether some standalone services for same-sex couples could be made available for use, possibly on a trial basis, on the timescale envisaged by the motion passed by the Synod in February 2023.' was carried following a counted vote by Houses.
↑ Gundy, Trevor (9 November 2012). "Justin Welby named next archbishop of Canterbury". USA Today. Retrieved 10 November 2012. Welby's appointment is expected to seal a vote in favor of allowing women bishops at a special meeting of the Church of England's General Synod held in London later this month.
"Religion & Ethics". BBC, featuring Welby's comments on "Reinventing the cross" as part of his ministry at Coventry Cathedral
"They work for you | House of Lords". 18 April 2006, House of Lords debate regarding Nigeria. Welby was part of a team researching the ethics of the situation
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