By Graham Fitzgerald
Herald Sun
April 4, 2010
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/archbishop-of-canterbury-voices-regret-for-irish-catholic-comments/story-e6frf7m6-1225849387260
UNITED KINGDOM -- THE Archbishop of Canterbury expressed his "deep sorrow and regret" Saturday after declaring the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland had lost "all credibility" over the child abuse scandal.
Dublin's Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who said he had been stunned by the remark, said Dr Rowan Williams called him stressing he did not mean to offend or criticize the Irish Church.
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| The leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, triggered fury on Easter by claiming that the Catholic Church in Ireland was "losing all credibility" over its clerical child abuse scandal |
In a statement to Archbishop Martin, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams apologised for "difficulties which may have been created" by the remarks.
Archbishop Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, earlier said the revelations of abuse had been a "colossal trauma" for Ireland in particular.
He said to the BBC, "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.
"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."
The Catholic Church in Ireland was rocked in recent months after revelations that pedophile priests got away with decades of horrific child sex abuse.
Pressure mounted on its leader, Cardinal Sean Brady, after he admitted being at a meeting where abused children were forced to take a vow of silence.
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