World Immigration News

Immigration debate ‘dividing us’, incoming archbishop of Canterbury warns in Christmas sermon

Release Date
2025-12-25
Media
The Guardian
Summary
The incoming archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, used her Christmas Day sermon to warn that national debates over immigration are dividing society when shared humanity should bring people together. She said joy is found amid hardship and uncertainty, calling on people to make room in their homes, churches and public conversations for others, especially those pushed to the margins by economic pressure and inequality. For Christians, she argued, holding on to joy is an act of resistance that faces suffering with courage rather than denying it.

The archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, also spoke about social divisions and fear of strangers. Recounting his visit to the Holy Land, where he was stopped at checkpoints and prevented from visiting Palestinian families, he reflected on the physical and psychological walls people build around the world and within themselves. He warned that ignoring the homeless, refugees and young people without hope risks failing to welcome Christ.

Pope Leo, in his Christmas sermon at the Vatican, focused on the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, the global homeless population and those affected by war. Drawing on the story of Jesus’s birth, he emphasized that God enters an imperfect and fragile world, and he called for an end to conflicts worldwide, including in Ukraine, Sudan and other regions.

Together, the religious leaders urged compassion, dialogue and solidarity, stressing a return to common humanity in the face of division, migration debates and global conflict.
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