{"id":136710,"date":"2026-04-05T17:02:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/archbishop-prays-for-middle-east-peace-in-first-easter-sermon\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T17:02:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:02:46","slug":"archbishop-prays-for-middle-east-peace-in-first-easter-sermon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/archbishop-prays-for-middle-east-peace-in-first-easter-sermon\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop prays for Middle East peace in first Easter sermon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Archbishop of Canterbury called for an end to \u201cviolence and destruction\u201d in the Middle East during her first Easter sermon as leader of the Church of England.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dame Sarah Mullally prayed \u201cwith renewed urgency\u201d for peace before a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its sixth week.<\/p>\n

She called for all people of the Middle East and the Gulf to \u201creceive the peace, justice and freedom they long for\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her Easter sermon comes just shy of a fortnight after her installation as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, during which she said her teenage self could \u201cnever have imagined the future that lay ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told the congregation on Sunday: \u201cThis week our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, as we shout with joy that Christ is risen, let us pray and call with renewed urgency for an end to the violence and destruction in the Middle East and the Gulf.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay our Christian sisters and brothers know and celebrate the hope of the empty tomb \u2013 and may all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of people are reported to have been killed in the ongoing conflict that began on 28 February with widespread US and Israeli strikes on Iran, to which Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

Israel has also since launched broad strikes across Lebanon after the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader at the start of the war.<\/p>\n

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Preaching on St John\u2019s Gospel, the archbishop told the congregation that Jesus Christ\u2019s resurrection began while Mary waited at his tomb in grief.<\/p>\n

She also prayed for people dealing with personal struggles and their \u201cown version of the dark\u201d, such as illness or bereavement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray you know that God walks with you through that darkness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Previously the chief nursing officer for England, Dame Sarah paid tribute to those caring for others \u2013 such as loved ones and carers in hospitals or hospices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis vigil of care is the work of remaining \u2013 of staying present in the quiet and the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her installation as archbishop in late March, Dame Sarah similarly prayed for peace and justice to prevail in \u201call war-torn areas of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She told the congregation of some 2,000 guests, including the Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, that the conflict in the Middle East had prevented some members of the Church from being able to attend the service.<\/p>\n

It marked the symbolic beginning of her ministry as archbishop, a role to which she was appointed after her predecessor Justin Welby resigned in 2024 after criticism of his handling of a serious abuse case.<\/p>\n

Dame Sarah will lead a global Church navigating deepening divisions over issues such as sexuality and female leadership, with some traditionalists in the church and the wider global Anglican Communion still opposed to the idea of women being priests at all.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, delivering his first Easter sermon since becoming Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Richard Moth said: \u201cIn our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice, often instigated by greed and misguided power, bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in his first Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing, Pope Leo has urged those who have the power to unleash wars to choose peace.<\/p>\n

He told tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at St Peter\u2019s Square in the Vatican that humanity cannot be indifferent to wars and thousands of deaths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Archbishop prays for Middle East peace in first Easter sermon<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Archbishop of Canterbury called for an end to \u201cviolence and destruction\u201d in the Middle East during her first Easter sermon as leader of the Church of England. Dame Sarah Mullally prayed \u201cwith renewed urgency\u201d for peace before a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its sixth week. She called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}