Williams apologizes after saying Irish Catholics lost all credibility A rare breach of ecumenical protocol A rare breach of ecumenical protocol
The leader of the global Anglican Communion has been forced to apologize for claiming that the Catholic Church in Ireland had lost “all credibility” over the clerical child abuse scandal.
The Easter weekend dustup was triggered when Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams stated on BBC radio that recent sexual abuse revelations had been a “colossal trauma” for Ireland’s Catholic community.
The Irish government has issued several reports in the past year detailing a longstanding and wide-ranging cover-up of abuse of children in Catholic-run institutions.