‘So many parts of the world seem beset with violence,’ Justin Welby to say as he reflects on plight of children in war
The archbishop of Canterbury and the pope are using their Christmas addresses to show solidarity with Bethlehem and those caught up in the Israel-Gaza war.
Referring to Jesus Christ’s birthplace, which is now in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Justin Welby will say “the skies of Bethlehem are full of fear rather than angels and glory”.
He will also draw comparisons to the turbulent conditions of Jesus’s birth and the current plight of children in the conflict-hit region.
“Today a crying child is in a manger somewhere in the world, nobody willing or able to help his parents who desperately need shelter,” Welby will say in a sermon at Canterbury Cathedral. “Or in an incubator, in a hospital low on electricity, like Al-Ahli [hospital] in Gaza, surrounded by conflict.
“Maybe he lies in a house that still bears the marks of the horrors of 7 October, with family members killed, and a mother who feared for her life.”
In his sermon he will also refer to victims of conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan, saying: “So many parts of the world seem beset with violence.
