Archbishop of Canterbury to remain in post until new year

Smyth, a barrister and senior member of a Christian charity, was accused of attacking dozens of boys, including those he met in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.

He later moved to Zimbabwe and later South Africa, where he abused up to 100 boys aged 13 to 17, the review said.

The report found that by 2013, the Church of England “knew, at the highest level” about Smyth’s abuse, including Mr Welby who took up the Church’s top job that year.

If he and other Church officers had reported this to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa at that time, “John Smyth could have [been] brought to justice at a much earlier point”, the independent report said.

Smyth was under police investigation when he died in South Africa in 2018.