This columnist for the UK Telegraph sniffs at Archbishop Willliams’ Easter sermon:

Why is the Archbishop of Canterbury so bewildering? After all, Easter is the biggest event in the Christian calendar – Dr Rowan Williams could have used his sermon to talk about the growing gap between rich and poor, the appalling treatment of the elderly, the ethical problems surrounding both unborn babies and the concept of euthanasia, genocide in the Sudan or the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. He could have tackled the lack of interest in the Church, the dearth of churchgoers and the rise in the cult of celebrity.

Why is the Archbishop of Canterbury so bewildering? After all, Easter is the biggest event in the Christian calendar – Dr Rowan Williams could have used his sermon to talk about the growing gap between rich and poor, the appalling treatment of the elderly, the ethical problems surrounding both unborn babies and the concept of euthanasia, genocide in the Sudan or the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. He could have tackled the lack of interest in the Church, the dearth of churchgoers and the rise in the cult of celebrity.

Instead, all he could talk about was a bestselling paperback. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code may have sold 40 million copies around the world with its bizarre plot about Christ marrying Mary Magdalene and having a baby; it may have been smeared with suntan cream, dropped in the bath and passed around friends, but that does not make it a great threat to the Church. It’s a blockbuster novel, about as true to Christian beliefs as Ian Fleming’s James Bond is to MI6.

Before Dr Williams became Archbishop of Canterbury three years ago, he enjoyed a reputation for being thoughtful, articulate and measured. The man from Monmouth with the big eyebrows seemed equal to any theological challenge. Yet here he is, three years later, seemingly cashing in on the publicity of a book that will be binned with next year’s bonkbuster. His sermon made headlines in all the Sunday newspapers, but it was dispiriting rather than uplifting.

In a recent interview with the editor of the Guardian, the Archbishop made it clear that he doesn’t want to be forced to take the moral lead on issues such as marriage or terrorism. "Leadership is, to me, a very, very murky and complicated concept," he said, describing this aspect of his role as being "comic vicar to the nation".

Dr Williams, a modest man, says he dislikes publicity, headline-grabbing tactics and pontificating. He refuses to give glib answers. That is understandable and in many ways commendable. Britain no longer wants fire and brimstone; it should welcome a leader who has integrity, is scrupulous and is humble enough to question all his assumptions.

But the Archbishop should stick to his rules. If he is not going to weigh into significant religious issues, then he shouldn’t become bogged down in frivolous ones, either. At the moment, all he seems to do is squabble about whether or not the Church should allow gay bishops. When he is not doing that, he is apologising for Britain’s distant past. "The Crusades were a serious betrayal of Christian beliefs," he said last year.

Now he is berating populist authors. If he wants readers to boycott The Da Vinci Code, why not the Pullman quartet or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well? A man of his intellect should be consistent. Instead he sounds bewildered by his role as the leader of a church that is losing its way.

Well, try this:

An enormously popular book that is about to be released in a film version has as its central thesis that Christianity is a lie, that Jesus was not who the Gospels say he was, and there is nothing certain to be known about Jesus. It has impacted many readers’ perceptions and beliefs. That matters to Christian teachers, of which Archbishop Williams is one. Or, as my correspondent dryly noted:

…apparently the veracity of the resurrection is not a significant religious issue. 

(The interesting thing is that she holds up Pope Benedict in contrast, praising him for engaging with the real world. Well, this is a part of the real world, too. )