BBC omit Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby from Christmas schedule

Justin Welby, who is quitting as Archbishop of Canterbury over his handling of child abuse claims, will not appear on any BBC TV or radio programmes at Christmas.

He has been omitted from the BBC's festive schedules, despite featuring regularly for the Corporation for more than a decade.

He will also still be in his post until Epiphany on January 6, the 12th day of Christmas.

A BBC source, who asked not to be named, said: 'Justin Welby is not scheduled to appear in any BBC radio or TV programmes over Christmas.'

The absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury from the Christmas schedules is another blow for the Church of England which is still reeling from the fall-out of the sex abuse scandal.

The disclosure comes days after it was revealed that Archbishop Welby, 68, will not deliver his usual televised New Year's Day message.

He resigned this month after the independent Makin review criticised his failure to report prolific child sex abuser John Smyth, who allegedly attacked boys at Christian camps in the '70s and '80s.

The Archbishop said he felt 'shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England'.

A Lambeth Palace spokesman said Archbishop Welby now planned 'to honour a small number of remaining commitments, to be confirmed in due course'. 

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Yet yesterday he pulled out at the last minute from giving the main sermon at the high-profile Holodomor Remembrance Day service at Canterbury Cathedral.

The service commemorates the millions of Ukrainians starved to death on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in the 1930s.

This year the event had special significance, falling in the week that saw the 1000th day of President Putin's attack on Ukraine.

Father-of-five Archbishop Welby, something of a media personality during his 11 years in the role, had delighted in reaching out to audiences at Christmas.

In 2013, in his first Christmas as Archbishop, he featured in a 'special Christmas edition' of Radio 3's Private Passions programme.

The following year he appeared as a castaway on the Christmas edition of Desert Island Discs, speaking movingly of a 'grim' childhood Christmas where he was shunned by his alcoholic father and forced to scrounge in the fridge for food.

He appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show at the height of Covid in December 2020 when he insisted that Christmas had not been cancelled, despite the crisis.

He was in Laura Kuenssberg's BBC Sunday morning show in 2022 and has featured in other broadcast productions.

Lambeth Palace said: 'It has been confirmed the Archbishop will not be delivering the New Year message on the BBC and intends very little public-facing activity between now and Epiphany. 

'He does plan to honour a small number of remaining commitments [to be confirmed in due course].'