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Archbishop seeks Mid-East peace Archbishop fears for Middle East
(30 minutes later)
The Archbishop of Canterbury is to use his Christmas Day sermon to urge the world not to look away from the problems of the Middle East. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has given a Christmas Day sermon urging people not to forget the tragedies of the Holy Land.
Dr Rowan Williams will voice concern over what he regards as an "almost total absence" of belief in the region that a political solution can be found. In an address inspired by a recent visit to the region, he said both Israelis and Palestinians feared being ignored as the world looked elsewhere.
He will say it is important for the world to ensure Israelis and Palestinians were not ignored. He voiced concern over an "almost total absence" of belief in the region that a political solution can be found.
Dr Williams will add that people in the Middle East fear for the future. The archbishop delivered his sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent.
Without friendship, it isn't possible to ask of both communities the hard questions that have to be asked Dr Rowan Williams href="/1/hi/uk/6208237.stm" class="">England a 'needy land' He said he was inspired by a medical director in Bethlehem - the West Bank town where Christians believe Jesus was born - who told him: "The poorest deserve the best".
He will say: "Go and see, go and listen; let them know, Israelis and Palestinians alike, that they will be heard and not forgotten." That slogan was underlined by the Christmas message, he said.
Dr Williams, who recently was on a Christmas pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, told the BBC there was little expectation of peace among the Christian population in that area. The poorest deserve the best - when you hear that, I wonder if you can take in just how revolutionary it is Dr Rowan Williams href="/1/hi/uk/6208653.stm" class="">Sermon in full
"The Christian population expects almost nothing from political solutions now - and that's the most disturbing, the most dispiriting thing - that they feel no way out," he said. Dr Williams told the congregation: "The tragedies of the Holy Land are not the problems of exotic barbarians far away; they are signs of the underlying tragedies that cripple all human life, individual and collective.
'Speaking up' "Every wall we build to defend ourselves and keep out what may destroy us is also a wall that keeps us in and that will change us in ways we did not choose or want.
He said it was important to defends the rights of Christians in the Middle East. "Every human solution to fears and threats generates a new set of fears and threats."
"There are very few people at the moment, it seems, speaking up for the Christian minority in Palestine," he said. Dr Williams, who was recently on a Christmas pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, told the BBC the security barrier was causing problems, preventing people from going about their lives.
"And they have very particular needs, very particular concerns. I think that if the Christian leadership in this country isn't going to speak for them, who is?" And his address will underline his fear for the Israelis and Palestinians.
In his interview with the BBC, Dr Williams also repeated his concerns over the security barrier between Israeli and Palestinian areas. "Both communities in their different ways dread - with good reason - a future in which they will be allowed to disappear while the world looks elsewhere.
He said it was causing problems, including that people could not conduct business in an ordinary way.
'Of real concern'
"It means that people in Bethlehem cannot go up to their fields or their olive groves - in many cases - and it certainly means that a message is being sent: 'this is not a place worth investing in,'" he said.
He added: "It's worked wonderfully well for Israel in terms of suicide bombing - it's sowing long-terms seeds that I think are matters of real concern".
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Westminster said in his midnight Mass homily at Westminster Cathedral that England is undergoing a "truly radical break" with humanity's traditions.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor described England is "a profoundly needy land".
Dr Williams's sermon is to be delivered at Canterbury Cathedral.
In it, he will say of Israelis and Palestinians: "Both communities in their different ways dread - with good reason - a future in which they will be allowed to disappear while the world looks elsewhere.
"The beginning of some confidence in the possibility of a future is the assurance that there are enough people in the world committed to not looking away and pretending it isn't happening.""The beginning of some confidence in the possibility of a future is the assurance that there are enough people in the world committed to not looking away and pretending it isn't happening."
He will add: "It may not sound like a great deal, but it is open to all of us to do; and without friendship, it isn't possible to ask of both communities the hard questions that have to be asked, the questions about the killing of the innocent and the brutal rejection of each other's dignity and liberty." 'Barriers to cohesion'
On Saturday, the archbishop accused the UK government of placing Christians in the Middle East at risk through its actions in Iraq.On Saturday, the archbishop accused the UK government of placing Christians in the Middle East at risk through its actions in Iraq.
We live in a culture that seeks to express itself as totally self-sufficient Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor England a 'needy land' Meanwhile the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has warned that multi-culturalism threatens cohesion.
In his Christmas Day sermon at York Minster, he said: "We, as citizens of this nation, must agree to build our dwelling tent together.
"I believe we should talk more about the common good and the values that have shaped this nation and less and less about multi-culturalism and cultural diversity.
And the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said in his midnight Mass homily at Westminster Cathedral that England was undergoing a "truly radical break" with humanity's traditions.