Canterbury tales: archbishop gets it all wrong

AS an Irish Catholic committed to ecumenism I was deeply affronted by the accusation of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to the effect that the Irish Catholic Church has lost all credibility.

His comments were totally at odds with the strength of faith and witness I experienced during Holy Week at the very full cathedral here in Killarney. Having spent one-third of my long teaching career as a senior leader, culminating in a period as principal of a joint Church of England/Roman Catholic secondary school in London, I witnessed at first hand the great mutual respect with which clergy and people of both denominations held one another.

Archbishop Williams’s words have caused deep hurt here in Ireland and I hope he will reconsider his blanket negative comments about our Catholic Church.