\u201cTHE FOOT is still in the door, even if it is being squashed very painfully,\u201d\u009d the Archbishop of Canterbury said last weekend when he was asked about the Church\u2019s participation in public debate. He did not think that the Church had yet \u201cdropped off the radar\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Dr Williams was in dialogue with Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye and panellist on the BBC\u2019s Have I Got News for You, at an event during \u201cThe Gathering\u201d\u009d, a series of activities for all ages at Canterbury Cathedral.<\/p>\n
Mr Hislop described the difficulty that Dr Williams faced with the media when people called for a moral lead from the Church. \u201cWhen the Archbishop of Canterbury says anything, they say, \u201d\u02dcShut up,\u2019\u201d\u009d he suggested.<\/p>\n
Dr Williams responded that \u201cthe leadership thing is a problem.\u201d\u009d It was \u201ca matter of trying to remember that when you\u2019re speaking from the Church you\u2019re trying to give some sort of critical perspective to try and show some\u00c2\u00adthing\u201d\u009d. The Archbishop admitted that he was \u201cnot brilliant at sound-bites\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n