The only Church of England bishop to publicly demand the resignation of former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby says his departure wasn't enough to solve the church's "profound failure" in safeguarding vulnerable people or ease the trauma suffered by victims of abuse.

The Church of England faced pressure on Wednesday to ensure people are held to account for systematically covering up allegations of abuse, one day after the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over a church abuse scandal.

More senior clergy in the Church of England might need to resign following the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to step down over personal failings in how decades of "abhorrent" child abuse by the late John Smyth was responded to.