Reverend Matthew Ineson, a survivor of abuse by another cleric, told the BBC he believed Mr Welby should resign “and he should take with him all those who have failed in safeguarding”.

“If he doesn’t the Church is showing… again it doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a victim,” he said.

At the weekend, the Church’s lead safeguarding bishop said she welcomed Mr Welby’s apology but would not say whether he should resign.

Andrew Graystone, the author of a book about the Smyth case, said on X that he was “nervous” about calls for Mr Welby’s resignation.

“What is needed is not a scalp but a wholesale change of culture in the church,” he said.

A spokesperson for Mr Welby said the archbishop hoped the Makin review would support the ongoing work of building a safer Church, and reiterated his “horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology”.

A spokesperson for the Archbishop of York said he was “saddened that this letter is now being described as coercive. This was not his intention, nor did he wish to cause any distress to the Bishop of Newcastle”.

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