It was difficult not to make the comparison. Last Wednesday the final session of the annual meeting of the National Conference of Priests of Ireland (NCPI) took place at the Emmaus centre near Swords, Co Dublin. That evening the final session of the annual meeting of the combined synod of the Church of Ireland dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough took place at Dundrum, Co Dublin.
Participation at the NCPI meeting mainly involved the invited panel at the top table, with comment from the floor generally muted, uncritical, frequently humorous and "soft". Only two women contributed.
At the diocesan synod, sometimes fierce debate was driven entirely from the floor, with delegates eager to take part and little involvement from the top table, except on matters of procedure. And it seemed that in some debates a majority of the contributors were women.
The contrast spoke volumes about the state of the two churches. Morale in the Church of Ireland, despite Drumcree, remains high. People, laity and clergy, feel their views matter. And they do. In the Catholic Church there is an air of stagnation, apathy, ennui. Priests and laity alike know what they think has no relevance. So why bother? The saddest illustration of this was the overwhelming decision by the NCPI last Tuesday that a national assembly of clergy and laity to discuss the state of the Irish Catholic Church should not take place.
Delegates did agree, however, that there might be such an assembly within 20 years. No doubt this decision was influenced by the words of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Laurence Ryan.
He said that "meaningful steps in pastoral renewal and the promotion of collaborative ministry need to be taken in local churches throughout the country and to have made appreciable progress before we plan a national assembly". Dr Ryan is the least dogmatic of men, but his words would have been understood as speaking the mind of the Irish Bishops' Conference.
As if to underline that view, one of the very few to speak from the floor in that debate, and in favour of a national assembly, was Father Paschal Scanlon, a Vincentian priest. He feared an assembly would never take place if the meeting adopted a position of "Yes, but not yet". He is probably right.
Reflecting on the mood among Ireland's Catholic priests, Father Bernard Cotter, editor of Inter-com, a pastoral and liturgical magazine published for people in ministry and on behalf of the bishops, has said he knows some priests who feel abandoned by the hierarchical church.
Writing in the current issue of the Fold, diocesan magazine of the Cork and Ross diocese, he quotes one priest as saying: "We've been hung out to dry."
But perhaps the finest exposition of what has become of Catholic priesthood in Ireland is that given by Father Gerard Moloney, editor of Reality, the Redemptorist magazine. In an editorial in the current issue, he reflects on his 10 years as a priest since ordination in October 1988. That was the culmination of years of study which had begun in September 1979, "the month of the Pope's triumphal visit to Ireland".
"Things looked rosy in the garden ." he recalled. "It was a good time to be a priest. Weekly Mass attendance was extraordinarily high by European and Western standards. Respect for the church and its leaders was huge."
But with the succession of scandals, "the church suddenly found itself on the defensive, its weaknesses and sinfulness glaringly exposed to an often gleeful media and a shocked and confused public. Clergy and people alike looked to the bishops for leadership and guidance, only to find that the bishops themselves seemed confused and uncertain."
And as the litany of revelations grew "so did a sense of anger, betrayal and disillusionment . . . Mass attendances collapsed . . . conspicuous by their absence in urban and rural parishes alike are those aged under 30. The fear is that they are lost forever."
Priests have been in the front line. They "have felt the full force of the storm. Their image has been severely discredited". As if to underline this view, at the NCPI meeting last Wednesday Father Kevin Hegarty, editor of Ceide magazine, recalled the experience of a colleague, a friend from the North. He was visiting the west. In a hotel he overheard a father say to a boy: "There, that's one of the men I'm warning you against".
Father Moloney said priests were confused and demoralised. He observes starkly: "Today is not a good time to a priest. The Pope's visit seems like it happened in another age."
He notes that "a church that was in so many respects arrogant and domineering must now become more humble, without pomp and airs. A church which for so long was identified as a power-broker and as an agent of the status quo must now become more prophetic, the authentic voice of the weak and the powerless in our society.
"A church which for so long paid lip-service to the priesthood of all the baptised, and offered lay people few opportunities for meaningful involvement, must now become one which recognises and makes good use of the gifts and talents of so many. A church which for so long insisted that it had all the answers and did not need to listen must now become a listening church, at one with its people and their pain."
If the present crisis was grasped with imagination and courage by bishops, clergy and laity alike, "then we can look forward to the new century with confidence and with hope," he concludes. The alternative is already clear.