But Archbishop Williams, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which claims 70 million adherents, was unusually blunt.

"I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who said that it's quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now," he said. "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's a problem for everybody in Ireland."

His remarks appeared to anger leaders of both the Catholic and Anglican Churches in Ireland, who criticized Archbishop Williams for poor judgment in exacerbating an already tense situation among Catholics in Ireland.

Before Archbishop Williams's apology, Archbishop Martin, head of the largest Catholic diocese in Ireland and the most powerful voice in the Irish church after Cardinal Brady, had issued a sharp rebuke.

"Those working for renewal in the Catholic Church in Ireland did not need this comment on this Easter weekend, and do not deserve it," Archbishop Martin said in a statement. "The unequivocal and unqualified comment in a radio interview of the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, that the Catholic Church in Ireland has 'lost all credibility,' has stunned me.

"I have to say that in all my years as archbishop of Dublin, in difficult times I have rarely felt personally so discouraged as when I woke to hear Archbishop Williams's comments," he said.

As it happens, I agree with every word that the Archbishop of Canterbury has said about the Irish Church, and I do not suspect his motives in making those comments. It's just a bit rich, coming from the leader of a Church in which traditions of English reserve have managed to keep so many scandals politely concealed.