The failings go right to the top with the report stating that from July 2013, the Church of England knew "at the highest level" about the abuse and that it "could and should have been reported to the police in 2013".

"Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up," lead reviewer Keith Makin said.

The report said that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby "held a personal and moral responsibility" to pursue the abuse allegations further and failed to do so.

In response Archbishop Welby apologised "not only for my own failures and omissions but for the wickedness, concealment and abuse by the church more widely".

Speaking to reporter Cathy Newman, he admitted "incompetence" but denied a cover-up. He has also resisted calls to resign.

"I have given it [resigning] a lot of thought and have taken advice as recently as this morning from senior colleagues, and, no, I am not going to resign," he said.

A petition calling for Welby's resignation has been backed by Rev Dr Ian Paul, a member of General Synod and the Archbishops' Council, Rev Robert Thompson, Synod member and vicar of St Mary's Kilburn & St James' West Hampstead, and Rev Marcus Walker, Synod member and vicar of Great St Bartholomew.

"Given his role in allowing abuse to continue, we believe that his continuing as the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer tenable," they said.

"We must see change, for the sake of survivors, for the protection of the vulnerable, and for the good of the Church--and we share this determination across our traditions.

"With sadness we do not think there is any alternative to his immediate resignation if the process of change and healing is to start now."

The petition has been signed nearly 2,000 times.

Fergus Butler Gallie, vicar of Charlbury with Shorthampton, has written to Archbishop Welby asking that he step down.

"We will continue to pray for you, but I for one will be praying that you will resign. The damage you have done to this church will take a very long time to repair," he wrote.

"More importantly, those things you did and failed to do inflicted such damage on people--made in the image of that same God--might never heal.

"Any healing of individuals or the institution must now be in His hands, not yours. The way you might serve that process best now is to resign."

Rev Giles Fraser, writing in Unherd, said, "Welby can't survive this. And his resignation should send a necessary shock wave through the Church of England like nothing else could. No Archbishop would ever again treat the whole matter so lightly."

He continued, "The Makin Report is a watershed moment for the Church. I'm afraid Justin Welby's position is no longer tenable.

"And it is important that when he goes, we use this moment as one for a massive change of culture within the church.

"As a victim of cruel abuse myself, I am finding it increasingly difficult to be a public representative of a church that refuses to find it within itself to do the right thing."

In response to the calls, a Lambeth Palace spokesperson told The Times that Welby "reiterates his horror" over the abuse perpetrated by Smyth and reiterated that he has "apologised profoundly both for his own failures and omissions and for the wickedness, concealment and abuse by the church more widely".

She confirmed that Welby does not plan to step down: "He had no awareness or suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013. And therefore, having reflected, he does not intend to resign."

END