The incoming Archbishop of Canterbury has warned in her Christmas Day sermon that “conversations about immigration continue to divide us, when our common humanity should unite us”.
The Pope also held a service in the Vatican in which he lamented conditions for Palestinians in Gaza and called for the “clamour of weapons [to] cease” in Ukraine and other conflict zones.
Dame Sarah Mullally – the first woman to lead the Church of England in more than 1,400 years – was speaking in St Paul’s Cathedral in her current role as Bishop of London.
“Many feel the weight of economic pressure. Some feel pushed to the margins,” said the 63-year-old.
“Our national conversations about immigration continue to divide us, when our common humanity should unite us.”
Families struggle to find secure housing, she added, while “our understanding of what it means to live and die well” is being challenged by the “complexities” of assisted dying.
Dame Sarah was elected in November and will legally begin her new role in January.
Woman named as new Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first
New Archbishop of Canterbury set to be named – who are the frontrunners?
Majority of Britons do not care who becomes next archbishop of Canterbury, new poll suggests
The Pope also gave his first Christmas Day sermon in the Vatican.
He said the story of Jesus’s birth in a stable showed God “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.
“How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” said Leo.
The pontiff later toured the square in the “popemobile” before giving the traditional Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) blessing.
Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he referenced conflicts in countries such as Sudan, Thailand and Cambodia – and said Ukrainians in particular had been “tormented by violence”.
“May the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue,” said the Pope.
The Archbishop of York, meanwhile, said in his own sermon that he had been “intimidated” by Israeli militias in the Holy Land earlier this year.
He called the visit “sobering” and said he was “stopped at various checkpoints and intimidated by local Israeli militias who told us that we couldn’t visit Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank”.
The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell added: “The strangers we encounter in the homeless on our streets, refugees seeking asylum, young people robbed of opportunity and growing up without hope for the future, means that we are in danger of even failing to welcome Christ when he comes.”
The King’s Christmas message – recorded in Westminster Abbey – will be broadcast at 3pm. He and other members of the Royal Family attended church in Sandringham this morning.
