Catholic Church Lost ‘All Credibility’ in Ireland: Williams

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has said that the Roman Catholic Church has lost ‘all credibility’ over the way it handled paedophile priests, reported BBC.

Williams said that problems, a ‘colossal trauma’ for the Church, had a bearing on the wider public, report said.

It is the first time Williams had spoken about the scandal that has recently triggered increasing controversy  about Pope Benedict’s role in dealing with accusations of sex abuse before he became Pope.

However, his supporters claimed that he had brought in rules to safeguard children.

“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,” William was quoted as saying.

“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,” he was quoted as saying.

Pope Benedict XVI last month expressed apology to victims, who as child were sexually abused by Catholic priests in Ireland.

In a pastoral letter he said that there had been ‘serious mistakes’ among bishops in responding to allegations of paedophilia.

Besides, the head of Ireland’s Catholic Church, Cardinal Sean Brady, also apologised for his role in mishandling the case of a serial child abuser.

Cardinal Brady admitted he had been present at meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints of sexual abuse against Father Brendan Smyth.