By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters) - The spiritual head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams, said the Catholic Church in Ireland had lost all its credibility over its response to a scandal over child sex abuse by clergy.
Williams' unusually frank criticism of the Catholic Church, broadcast by BBC radio on Saturday, follows an apology by Pope Benedict over abuse in Ireland that disappointed victims.
Relations between the two churches have been strained by the pope's offer last year of a berth in the Catholic church for traditionalist Anglicans opposed to the ordination of women.
The criticism could add further stresses ahead of a visit by the pope to Britain in September.
The Archbishop of Dublin said he was stunned and discouraged by Williams' comments and said they would not help those trying to rebuild the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The pope has ordered an inquiry into some Irish dioceses in the most concrete step taken since a wave of abuse cases hit the Catholic Church in Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
But in his pronouncement last month the pope did not address widespread calls for a radical restructuring of the Irish church, nor did he call for the resignation of bishops implicated in the scandal.
Williams told the BBC the abuse had caused a "colossal corporate trauma" for the Catholic Church, especially in Ireland.
"I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it's quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now," he said, in an extract of an interview to be broadcast in full on Monday.
"And an institution so deeply bound into the life of a society, suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility - that's not just a problem for the Church, it is a problem for everybody in Ireland".
A report commissioned by the Irish government said the church had "obsessively" hidden child abuse from 1975 to 2004.
It said one priest admitted abusing more than 100 children. Another said he had abused children every two weeks for more than 25 years.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said he recognised the church had failed the abused children but said Williams' comments were unhelpful.
"Those working for renewal in the Catholic Church in Ireland did not need this comment on this Easter weekend and do not deserve it," Martin said.
"Archbishop Williams' comments will be for them immensely disheartening and will challenge their faith even further".
Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Jon Hemming
Reuters UK
