As I drove home from band practise tonight, I heard the news that Justin Welby had, after all, stepped down in the row about safeguarding around the alleged abuses by the late John Smyth. I say alleged because I think they haven’t been tried in court but that failure to act early enough for Smyth to be prosecuted before his death in 2018 was the nub of the furore which led to Welby’s resignation.

Is it a victory for safeguarding? Possibly but those who feel inclined to gloat need to remember that it is much easier to tear down than to build up. How many bishops do you need to work through before you get to one who is senior enough to step up but hasn’t got similar skeletons in their cupboard? How many innocent people have suffered because investigations have been pushed hard and early? There are no easy answers although the fact that we continued to be faced with the hard questions makes a good case for accepting the premise that we live in a fallen and broken world, fragile people who easily find ways to break and to break others.

I expect the wisest of the potential prelates won’t be rushing to step into his shoes and that Welby, while probably not enjoying his route to departure, will be rather glad to take them off.