London | The archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, has been forced to step down, copping the blame for not acting on early warnings about a prolific sex abuser within the Church of England.

Justin Welby, a 68-year-old former oil executive, who was ordained as a priest in 1992 and became the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in 2013, said in a statement that he had to “take personal and institutional responsibility” for failing to act against John Smyth.