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Christmas Sermon by Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, in York Minster
Tuesday 25 December 2007
Archbishop calls for action against 'God being violated' in Zimbabwe and Darfur
In his Christmas sermon at York Minster Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has said that "the message of Christmas challenges our complacency, our prejudices, and our misconceptions about God and humanity."
Delivering his sermon at a packed York Minster the Archbishop said that every individual was a "stand-in for God" and needed to be treated with value, dignity and respect: "For God who came to us in humility speaks forcefully to our pride, economic and social status, justice and the importance of human worth. Forcing us to see each human being as a God-Carrier, a stand-in for God."
The Archbishop said that the mistreatment of people and lack of justice at home and in countries abroad was a violation and a blasphemy of God:
"In the killing, raping and looting fields of Darfur; in the broken nation and a broken people of Zimbabwe who have been forcefed with injustice and can swallow no more; for the unreconciled children of Abraham in the Middle East - the Palestinians without a viable state they can call home and Israelis hungry for peace and security; for the refugees, the homeless and people caught up in human trafficking; in the walls of silence the abduction of Madeline McCann, the murder of Rhys Jones and the failure for any to take responsibility for the Omagh bombing – God is being violated and blasphemed."
The Archbishop concluded his sermon by calling for people to join forces in bringing an end to those situations of human rights violations: "For God in Christ stood on earth and embraced the one race, the human race. May the God who "shone in our hearts and gave us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" give us the grace and the courage to stop all those who are disfiguring his image and likeness in the suffering people he loves in His world."