Rowan Williams defends Christianity against 'dim-witted prejudice' as new crisis looms He insisted that Christianity was not losing a "battle against secularisation" but said that society was increasingly "tone-deaf" about religion. He said: "I think there's a great deal of interest still in the Christian faith and although I think there is also a lot of ignorance and rather dim-witted prejudice about the visible manifestations of Christianity which sometimes clouds the discussion. I don't think that there's somehow a single great argument that the Church is losing. He added: "There are an awful lot of people now of a certain generation who don't really know how religion works, let alone Christianity in particular. And that leads to confusions and sensitivities in the wrong areas ... does wearing a cross offend people who have no faith or non-Christians? I don't think it does, but people worry that it will, and that's partly because there's a slight tone-deafness about how religious belief works. Dr Williams, who had been expected to leave next year, will take up a post as Master of Magdalene College Cambridge in January. He presided over one of the most turbulent periods in the Church's modern history with long and, at times, acrimonious arguments over the ordination of women bishops and divisions between liberal and conservative branches of the Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexuality. His departure comes as he faces the collapse of the Anglican Covenant, the document he hoped would hold the Communion together. So far 17 English dioceses have rejected it with only 10 in favour. Five more will vote today potentially making it impossible for it to be approved. If not further votes next weekend are expected to deliver the death knell. Yesterday he acknowledged that his time had been marked by "crisis management" adding: "The worst aspects of the job I think have been the sense that there are some conflicts that won't go away, however long you struggle with them, and that not everybody in the Anglican Communion or even in the Church of England is eager to avoid schism or separation." In a remarkably candid assessment of his tenure he said: "It's impossible to register whether it has been 'a success" or not." The Archbishop of York issued a stout defence of Dr Williams calling him a "real brother to me in Christ" pointedly adding: "Despite his courageous, tireless and holy endeavour, he has been much maligned by people who should have known better. The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, said Dr Williams was "the most able Archbishop of Canterbury for centuries." David Cameron paid tribute to his "profoundly humane sense of moral leadership that was respected by people of all faiths and none" and thanked him - despite high profile disagreements - for his "support and advice." The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, spoke of Dr Williams's "kindness, his sharp intellect, his dedication to striving for harmony between peoples, especially within the Christian family, his courage and his friendship."