The unusually frank criticism of the Catholic Church in Ireland by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams broadcast on BBC radio yesterday follows an apology by Pope Benedict over child abuse by priests 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 Diarmuid Martin said he was stunned and discouraged by Williams’s comments and said they would not help those trying to rebuild the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Martin said Williams later telephoned him to convey his “deep sorrow and regret” for difficulties caused by the remarks.
“Archbishop Williams affirmed that nothing could have been farther from his intention than to offend or criticise the Irish Church,” Martin said.
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.
