A senior Roman Catholic cardinal has suggested that the Anglican Church may be “suffering from spiritual Alzheimer’s”.

Speaking at a plenary session of the Lambeth Conference, Cardinal Ivan Dias, of the Vatican’s Congregation for Evangelisation, also indicated that perhaps the Anglican Communion had “ecclesial Parkinson’s”.

The conference of 650 Anglican bishops, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is seeking to save his Church from schism, has so far only skimmed the surface of the most contentious subjects: the consecration of homosexual bishops and same-sex blessings.

Rome is concerned not just about the liberal agenda of Western Anglicans on homosexuality but about the Church of England move towards the consecration of women bishops.

Although Cardinal Dias, a close ally of the Pope whose words are understood to reflect his own views, did not name any province, his words were interpreted as criticism of the US and English provinces.

The Cardinal said: “Much is spoken today of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. By analogy, their symptoms can, at times, be found even in our own Christian communities.

“For example, when we live myopi-cally in the fleeting present, oblivious of our past heritage and apostolic traditions, we could well be suffering from spiritual Alzheimer’s. And when we behave in a disorderly manner, going whimsically our own way without any coordination with the head or the other members of our community, it could be ecclesial Parkinson’s.”

He described modern secularism as being engaged in “spiritual combat” with the Church. The Cardinal said: “This combat rages fiercely even today, aided and abetted by secret sects, satanic groups and New Age movements, to mention but a few, and reveals many ugly heads of the hideous antiGod monster: among them are notoriously secularism, which seeks to build a godless society; spiritual indifference, which is insensitive to transcendental values; and relativism, which is contrary to the permanent tenets of the gospel.”

The Right Rev David Beetge, a South African bishop and co-chairman of an ecumenical group that has studied how the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches can work together, said that tradition was part of the life of Anglicans. “Tradition is one of the voices that has to come to the table. So often we are just taking the present context into account.” The Cardinal was “a voice we have to listen to”, he said.

In a joint statement, the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease societies criticised the Cardinal. They said: “Seeing the challenges faced by people with Parkinson’s disease or dementia trivialised by comments from such a prominent public figure is demoralising. People with dementia and Parkinson’s face the challenge of coping with a physical condition which slowly robs them of their lives. These comments serve to reinforce negative stereotypes surrounding these devastating conditions.”

In London Dr Williams today leads the bishops in a “Lambeth Walk” to promote action against “starvation, disease and death in the world’s poorest countries”. The Prime Minister will address the bishops and representatives from other Churches at Lambeth Palace.

The Right Rev Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop whose consecration led to the Church’s crisis over homosexuality, is excluded from the conference itself, in Canterbury, but “will not be turned away” if he wants to join the “walk of witness” in London. Up to 1,500 faith leaders, parliamentarians and charity leaders are to take part.