Persecution fears dominate Christmas messages

Senior religious figures have condemned violence in the name of God and spoken of the threat to Christianity posed by so-called Islamic State (IS) in hard-hitting Christmas addresses.  

“Any claim to justify violence in the name of God is abhorrent. It is always a corruption of true faith,” said Cardinal Vincent Nichols in a homily given at Midnight Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

He spoke of the image of Jesus as a vulnerable baby, as a symbol of God’s mercy, and the very antithesis of violence.

“Let us be resolved to lay aside our own tendencies to angry violence so that we may condemn, with integrity, those who perpetrate such violence and claim for it the name of God,” he added.

He urged listeners to pray for innocent victims throughout the world, especially Christians, who “suffer grievously for their faith in Jesus as their Lord”.

In his Christmas Day sermon in Canterbury Cathedral, Archbishop Justin Welby described IS as “a Herod of today”.

Referring to the events of Jesus’ birth, he described the shepherds as witnessing an “apocalypse”, interpreted as an uncovering of God’s purpose for the universe.

He contrasted this message of hope with the vision put forward by jihadists.

In her Christmas broadcast the Queen quoted from the Bible in reference to the atrocities of 2015. “It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year,” she said. “But the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’”

Prime Minister David Cameron called Britain a “Christian country” and used his Christmas message as an opportunity to draw attention to the refugees fleeing Syria and the persecution of Christians around the world.

“Millions of families are spending this winter in refugee camps, driven from their homes by Daesh [IS] and Assad,” he said.