Pile on!!!

Never seeing a modern style he wouldn’t wardrobe himself in, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has joined the trendy company of Sinead O’ Connor and Christopher Hitchens in attacking the Catholic Church. Apparently, it’s quite the rage nowadays.

Williams said in an interview with the BBC that the Catholic Church has “lost all credibility” in Ireland. These kinds of things must be taken somewhat seriously as Williams is the foremost expert in credibility loss as he’s successfully steered the Anglican Church away from scripture based to newspaper headline based.

Poor Williams never saw a cultural zeitgeist he didn’t want to grab on to the tail of and champion. He gets so caught up in whatever the elites are mouthing at the moment that he sometimes forgets little things like core convictions. Just last year he daringly agreed with the cultural elites by calling for aspects of Sharia law to be adopted in Britain.

Note to Williams: Newspaper headlines are not primers for core convictions.

The AP reports:

The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has lost all credibility because of its mishandling of abuse by priests, the leader of the Anglican church said in remarks released Saturday. A leading Catholic archbishop said he was “stunned” by the comments.

The remarks released Saturday marked the first time Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has spoken publicly on the crisis engulfing the Catholic Church. The comments come ahead of a planned visit to England and Scotland by Pope Benedict XVI later this year.

“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,” Williams told the BBC. “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, I think.”

…Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said he had “rarely felt personally so discouraged” as when he heard Williams’ opinions.

“I have been more than forthright in addressing the failures of the Catholic Church in Ireland. I still shudder when I think of the harm that was caused to abused children. I recognize that their church failed them,” a statement, posted on the archdiocese’s Web site, said. “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 Williams called him later and expressed regret for the “difficulties which may have been created.” That doesn’t sound like an apology, does it?

Anyone think this has anything to do with Williams’ anger over Pope Benedict’s invitation to the Traditional Anglican Communion.

The truth is that Pope Benedict XVI has gained the ire of secularists and liberals because in him they see an enemy who can do great things to revive the Church and bring people throughout the world to Christ. In Williams, however, they see a fellow traveler.