Ecumenism
Williams did his doctoral work on Vladimir Lossky, a prominent Russian Orthodox theologian of the early-mid 20th century. He is currently patron of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius, an ecumenical forum for Orthodox and Western (primarily Anglican) Christians. He has expressed his continuing sympathies with Orthodoxy in lectures and writings since that time.
Williams has written on Saint Teresa of Avila, a Spanish Roman Catholic mystic. On the death of Pope John Paul II he accepted an invitation to attend his funeral, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to attend a funeral of a Pope since the break under King Henry VIII. He also attended the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. During the Pope's state visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010, the two led a service together at Westminster Abbey.
Williams said in April 2010 that the child sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland had been a "colossal trauma" for Ireland in particular. Williams' remarks were condemned by the second most senior Roman Catholic bishop in Ireland, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, who said that "Those working for renewal in the Catholic Church in Ireland did not need this comment on this Easter weekend and do not deserve it."
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