Christianity formed Britain’s national identity, the Archbishop of Canterbury was due to say at the turn of the year, as he urged people to respond generously and with hope to international disasters such as ebola.
“We are a country formed in a Christian heritage, which calls us to sacrifice and self-giving, to open handedness and hospitality,” Archbishop Justin Welby was to say in his New Year Message, adding that Britain was at its best when it “turned outward” to help those who suffer.
Archbishop Welby recorded his New Year Message at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, which was chosen for its significance as a place of remembrance and prayer at the end of a year that saw the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.
In the face of wars and disasters in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan at the moment, the Archbishop was to warn against looking “inwards in despair”.
He was to contrast this darkness with the heroism of Britons across the world.
“We are not a country that turns our back on the suffering and the weak and the helpless,” he was due to say, before recalling aid workers he met recently in South Sudan and Sierra Leone.
The message will be broadcast on BBC One at 12:45am on New Year’s Day.
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