Catholic and Anglican leaders in Britain and Ireland used their Easter Sunday sermons to try to heal the wounds from a rift between the churches over the Irish clerical child abuse scandal.Churchmen on both sides of the Irish Sea spoke of the turmoil in the Irish Catholic Church caused by paedophile priests and attempts to cover up their behaviour.
But they also reflected on comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, who said the Catholic Church was "losing all credibility" in Ireland over the scandal.
His first intervention on the subject -- for which he later expressed his "deep sorrow and regret" -- sparked an outcry from Anglican and Catholic clergy alike in both Britain and Ireland.
Religious observers have said Williams' comments were unusually outspoken and critical for the leader of another church, especially as they emerged over the Easter weekend.
Relations between the two churches have been strained since last October when Pope Benedict XVI offered disgruntled Anglicans an easier route to conversion to Catholicism.
Williams, the Church of England leader, decided not to mention the abuse scandal at all during his Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral.
But Archbishop Alan Harper, the head of the Anglican Church of Ireland, said there was a "black distress" on the largely Catholic island this year and Williams' remarks were "not helpful".
"The horrific extent of decades of child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and the systemic failure to respond appropriately or legally hangs over the whole of our island like a heavy cloud," he said at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
"The lay people of the Roman Catholic Church do not deserve to be criticised for the failings of some of their bishops and priests.
"Those who are now working hard to change that culture are themselves faithful members of the Roman Catholic Church and deserve to receive support and encouragement."
Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, told the city's Pro-Cathedral that Williams had telephoned to express his sorrow over his remarks.
"There is questioning of the role of the Church in Irish society," Martin said, adding it was "being examined under a microscope and from every possible direction.
"The light of Christ heals, it leads; there is no way we can switch off or dim that part of the light that exposes the sad realities of the past.
"That was the message that the Archbishop of Canterbury wanted to bring home in his BBC interview: a wounded Church is not something positive for Irish society."
It emerged last month that Irish Primate Cardinal Sean Brady was present when children signed vows of silence over allegations against a paedophile priest in 1975.
In his Easter homily, Brady said there was now "no hiding place for abusers in the church."
"I pledge to you that, from now on, my overriding concern will always be the safety and protection of everyone in the church -- but especially children and all those who are vulnerable."
Meanwhile in Britain, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales used his Easter sermon to say the church was acknowledging its "own sin and shame" over the scandal.
At St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: "One might say that there has been a great 'public humiliation' of the Church.
"Crimes against children have indeed been committed and any Catholics who were aware of such crimes and did not act to report them brings shame on us all."
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SIC: AFP