Pope Benedict XVI Blog

What's the status of Christmas in a pluralistic society?: Archbishop of Canterbury weighs in

Archbishop of Canterbury speaks up on Christmas row -03/12/05

In the face of continuing public arguments about the status of Christmas in a plural society, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has described the festival as a celebration of human hope based on God's identification with humanity in Jesus.

Turning on the Christmas lights in one of London’s more deprived and populous boroughs, Dr Williams said: “You’ve probably noticed that there has been quite a lot of fuss in the papers about Lambeth and Christmas – if you haven’t, I don’t know which papers you’ve been reading!”

“Christmas is the Christian’s Christmas present to everybody else,” the Archbishop claimed. “Christmas, for a Christian tells us why people matter. They matter because God took us seriously, seriously enough to get involved with our lives to suffer with us and change things. That’s what I believe, that’s what Christians believe and Christmas exists because of that belief.”
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:44 AM