Just a thought: Doesn't the imbroglio that Pope Benedict XVI has got himself into over welcoming the ultra-traditionalist Lefebvrists back into the fold remind you of the kind of trouble that Dr Rowan Williams gets into as Archbishop of Canterbury?

Sure, they're very different Church leaders; one holds a very authoritarian post and the other is altogether more of a first among equals, a gatherer of disparate factions. Though, come to think of it, which is which from those descriptions? I guess it depends where you're standing.

Another similarity is that they appear to be very bad at their personal PR. Damian Thompson today describes the Pope's disastrous communications operation, as a German Pope rehabilitates the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), which includes the vile holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson.

Dr Williams will recognise his plight. He has endeavoured to keep ultra-traditionalists in the Anglican Communion, such as those African bishops who believe that homosexuals are sub-human, to the dismay of Anglican liberals in America who have consecrated a gay bishop. And he has made controversial comments about Sharia law, Nazism and the freedom of the press.