Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has resigned his priesthood.
By Emma Ogbuehi (With Agency Reports)
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has resigned his priesthood. He leaves after 61 years of priesthood. He resigned following allegations that he did not handle the case of a priest accused of sexual misconduct properly.
Agency Reports stated that Carey quit his service as a Church of England priest after a BBC investigation revealed he had advocated for an alleged child abuser, David Tudor, to return to priesthood.
David Tudor was banned by the Church for five years in the 1980s, over allegations of assault against teenage girls, but Lord Carey later allowed him to return under supervision.
Tudor was only sacked as a priest in October of this year after admitting sexual misconduct.
In a resignation letter he sent on 4 December, the former Church letter said he had been in active ministry since 1962 and is turning 90 but failed to mention the investigation.
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Carey said: “I wish to surrender my Permission to Officiate.
“I am in my ninetieth year now and have been in active ministry since 1962 when I was made Deacon and then Priested in 1963. It has been an honour to serve in the dioceses of London, Southwell, Durham, Bristol, Bath and Wells, Canterbury and finally Oxford.”
Carey’s resignation from priesthood comes barely a month after the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, announced his resignation, following a report that he had failed to ensure a proper investigation into claims that more than 100 boys and young men were abused decades ago at Christian summer camps.
Agency Reports indicated that pressure had mounted on Mr. Welby, the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, after the report was published and after one senior figure in the church, the bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, called on him publicly to step aside.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Welby said, “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024.”
He said that he had sought permission to resign from King Charles III, and added: “I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.”
Mr. Welby, 68, had held his position since 2013 and was scheduled to retire in 2026.
