History Was Made. Accountability Was Not.

Archbishop of Canterbury

History was made this week at Canterbury. The installation of a woman as Archbishop marks a significant moment for the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, particularly for generations of women whose vocations were resisted, delayed, or denied.

But history does not exempt leadership from scrutiny. It sharpens it.

In her first sermon, the Archbishop acknowledged harm within Christian communities:

“We must not overlook or minimise the pain experienced by those who have been harmed through the actions, inactions, or failures of those in our own Christian communities.”

It is a necessary admission and one that reflects what safeguarding reviews and independent inquiries have repeatedly shown: that abuse is not only individual, but systemic, embedded in cultures as much as actions.

But it is also where the clarity stops.

Because what is missing from this sermon is the one thing safeguarding requires most: accountability.

There is no “we have failed.”

No “I take responsibility.”

No naming of the Church’s role in the harm it has caused and continues to cause.

Instead, responsibility is absorbed into the language of “we"; a broad collective, and ultimately unlocatable.

As highlighted in successive safeguarding critiques of the Church of England, this diffusion of responsibility has remained a persistent barrier to meaningful change. In safeguarding, this matters.

When responsibility belongs to everyone, it is often carried by no one.

Survivors are remembered:

“Today, and every day, we hold victims and survivors in our hearts and in our prayers…”

Prayer is not accountability. It is not justice. And it is not what survivors have been asking for. Reports and survivor testimonies across the Anglican Communion have consistently called not for words alone, but for listening, redress, and reform.

They have asked to be heard.

To be believed.

To see change.

There is no commitment here to listen differently, to act differently, or to submit the Church to the kind of independent scrutiny that safeguarding bodies, including the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended.

“Action” is named, but left undefined.

And then, almost as quickly as harm is acknowledged, the sermon moves on:

“A church for the whole nation and for the world…”

It is a compelling vision. But it comes too soon.

Because safeguarding requires something more uncomfortable before vision can be trusted: truth-telling about failure, clarity about responsibility, and a willingness to remain in that space long enough for it to mean something.

The Church of England does not begin this new chapter from a place of neutrality. It does so with broken trust and questions unresolved. In that context, words matter, but omissions matter more.

And the omission here is stark.

No ownership.

No repentance.

No commitment to structural change.

This does not diminish the significance of the moment. It is right to recognise what this day represents for women in ministry. But safeguarding does not yield to symbolism.

The question is not who stands at the pulpit. It is what they are willing to say from it.

The Archbishop named harm. But she did not name responsibility.

And until that changes, the risk remains that the Church continues to speak the language of care, while leaving accountability conspicuously absent.

A simple message to the Archbishop: be better. Do better. Be accountable.

~Michelle Burns

Guarding the Flock

Writing this blog takes time, care, and a lot of tea. If it’s been helpful to you, you’re very welcome to buy me a cuppa as a small way of supporting it. No pressure at all – I’m just glad you’re here - Michelle