Bishop of Dover 'deeply saddened' by Welby treatment

The Bishop of Dover and the Bishop in Canterbury, the Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin

The Bishop of Dover has said she did not want former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to resign and has confirmed she is not a contender to replace him.

Mr Welby stepped down in November following a damning report which said he "could and should" have reported a prolific child abuser to police in 2013.

The independent review found the Church of England, including Mr Welby, "knew, at the highest level" about John Smyth's abuse by 2013.

The Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, also the Bishop in Canterbury, told the BBC she was "deeply saddened" by how the former Archbishop had been treated.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin said: "I am deeply saddened at the way we have treated our archbishop and I did not want our archbishop to have resigned."

Asked if she accepted the report's findings that he could have done more, she said: "I am not sure that, even if the finding said he could have done more and should have done more, we knew that the police officers involved have said that they were informed.

"You do not get the Archbishop, or the Bishop, or anyone constantly knocking on the police's door to say, 'have you done your job?"

She said the priority moving forward should be to ensure that the recommendations from the report were implemented.

"That's [what] we need to be addressing," she added.

A new Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to be appointed in the coming months.

Emphatically ruling herself out of contention, the Bishop of Dover said she hoped those responsible would "spend time in prayer" before choosing the "best person" for the role.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin also spoke candidly about the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of the church.

"Yes, this happened to me, I was a child.

"But I'm not defined by it... I am nobody's victim [and] nobody's survivor."