"Fight poverty not wars" say Christian Leaders by Associated Press / BBC News / The Observer 5:15pm 25th Dec, 2004   December 26, 2004    "Fight poverty not wars, says Archbishop of Canterbury", by Peter Beaumont. (The Observer / UK)    The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, used his Christmas sermon yesterday to deliver a searing attack on the West's neglect of poverty, and accused politicians of 'massaging' the threat of terrorism. He also expressed concern that the principles of 'justice and liberty' were being sacrificed in favour of security.    The leader of 70 million Anglicans worldwide, Dr Williams - who was a leading opponent of the war in Iraq - attacked the developed world for failing to make progress on the United Nations' millennium development goals, and singled out politicians for encouraging fear over the threat of terror.    Williams's critical comments followed an equally blunt address by Britain's leading Roman Catholic, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, who demanded to know why so much money was being spent on armed conflict in the Middle East rather than on global poverty.    It also followed an unusually sombre annual 'Urbi et Orbi' ('The City and the World') address by Pope John Paul II, who talked of his concern over violence in the Middle East and Iraq.    Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral, Williams said: 'The likelihood of a reduction by half of people living in abject poverty by the year 2015 is not noticeably greater than it was four years ago,' he said in reference to one of the key UN goals. 'Some developed nations appear deeply indifferent to the goals agreed.'    The terrorism threat was a legitimate concern, but was being manipulated by some and had helped to sideline poverty issues, Williams argued. 'When a society believes in nothing, the only agenda is fear,' he said, quoting the controversial BBC programme The Power of Nightmares, which dealt with the use of fear as a political tool.    'No one could or would deny that we face exceptional levels of insecurity and serious problems in relation to an unpredictable and widely diffused network of agencies whose goals are slaughter and disruption,' he said. 'It is not a mistake to be concerned about terror; we have seen enough this last year, in Iraq and Ossetia, of the nauseating and conscienceless brutality that is around.'    He added: 'It is all too easy to be more interested in other matters - not least the profound anxieties about security that are at the moment so pervasive, massaged by various forces in our public life in the West.'    Williams urged Britain to use its leadership of the G8 group of industrialised nations during 2005 to initiate a new war on poverty. 'We are not going to be living in the truth if we have no passion for the liberty of God's children, no share in the generosity of God,' he added.    Other senior church figures echoed Dr Williams' concerns. In his last Christmas sermon before he retires, the Archbishop of York said justice and peace must be pursued together. Dr David Hope highlighted the need for this approach in unpromising situations like Iraq and the Holy Land.    The most scathing comments were, however, levelled by the leader of Britain's Catholics. Speaking on Christmas Eve, Murphy-O'Connor said: 'What a terrible thing it is that billions - and I mean billions - of pounds are being spent on war in the Middle East which could have been spent bringing people out of dire poverty and malnourishment and disease.'    Pope John Paul II touched briefly on the same issues in his annual address, sharing his fears about Iraq, Sudan and other hot spots and expressed hopes in a Christmas message that peace-building efforts will bring the world a more tranquil future.    'I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of the Ivory Coast and of the Great Lakes Region,' John Paul said of those conflict areas. 'With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq. And how can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also with invincible confidence, toward that land of which you are a son?'    December 25, 2004    "Pope prays peace efforts will take Root", by Frances D'Emilio. (Associated Press Writer)    VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Paul II offered Christmas wishes Saturday for a world where he said timid but hopeful efforts at peace coexist with worries over over Iraq, the Holy Land and several tragic conflicts in Africa.    Challenging his frail health, the 84-year-old pontiff turned out in the chilly, steady drizzle of Rome to keep his traditional appointment of reading holiday greetings in dozens of languages to a crowd of thousands of Romans and tourists in St. Peter's Square. Children screamed in delight and adults cheered and hoisted their umbrellas in greeting as the pope, in gold-colored robes, was driven into the square in his white popemobile, whose top was covered with see-through plastic to protect him from the rain.    John Paul delivered his ``Urbi et Orbi'' (Latin for ``to the city and to the world'') message from a chair under a canopy atop the central steps of St. Peter's Basilica. `Babe of Bethlehem, Prophet of peace, encourage attempts to promote dialogue and reconciliation, sustain the efforts to build peace, which hesitantly, yet not without hope, are being made to bring about a more tranquil present and future for so many of our brothers and sisters of the world,'' John Paul said, slowly pronouncing each word and often pausing to catch his breath.    `I think of Africa, of the tragedy of Darfur in Sudan, of the Ivory Coast and of the Great Lakes Region,'' John Paul said of those conflict areas. `With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq. And how can I fail to look with anxious concern, but also with invincible confidence, toward that Land of which you are a son?'' the pontiff said in reference to the Holy Land..    The Vatican said arrangements had been made with 72 countries to transmit the pope's message on TV, among them many countries with large Muslim populations, including Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia and Jordan. Many Latin American countries as well as Israel were on the list..    John Paul laced his message with images of Baby Jesus. `Before the crib where you lie helpless, let there be an end to the spread of violence in its many forms, the source of untold suffering,'' John Paul prayed. ``Let there be an end to the numerous situations of unrest which risk degenerating into open conflict,'' the pontiff said, without being specific. He called for ``firm will to seek peaceful solutions, respectful of the legitimate aspirations of individuals and peoples,'' and said peace is needed everywhere.    25 December, 2004    Bethlehem marks hopeful Christmas. (BBC News)    Christmas celebrations have been held at the Church of Nativity in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, the historic birthplace of Jesus Christ.    For the first time in three years, Israel allowed Palestinian political leaders to attend the midnight sermon, where appeals for peace were made. Veteran leader Yasser Arafat, who died in November, had been barred from the event over his alleged terror links.    Bethlehem locals said Christmas tourism had yet to return to earlier peaks. Despite the air of hope, the Palestinians were mostly left to themselves for Christmas, without the tourists they need, says the BBC's James Reynolds in Bethlehem.    Palestinian presidential hopeful Mahmoud Abbas and the interim chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Rawhi Fattuh, attended midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square in Bethlehem. In his midnight sermon, Latin patriarch Michel Sabbah urged Israelis and Palestinians to "conquer the evil of violence" and work towards a new society in which "no one controls the other, no one is occupied by the other, no one causes insecurity for the other, no one takes liberty from the other". Earlier in the day, he led a procession of some 1,000 Christians through Bethlehem to the accompaniment of a Palestinian band.    A giant portrait of Arafat looked down on Manger Square, as Palestinians turned out to greet Mr Abbas, the favourite to succeed him in presidential elections in January.    By late Friday night, reports say, much of Manger Square, was deserted, with only a few locals braving the driving rain to stay out. Israeli forces eased restrictions imposed by their network of checkpoints and barriers, allowing a reported 5,000 Palestinians to visit Bethlehem for Christmas.
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item