Increasing inequality and the fact minorities have a “much harder time” are among the Archbishop of Canterbury’s main fears.
In today’s Big Issue, Justin Welby writes that the past nine years have hit vulnerable people hardest.
He said there are more rough sleepers, an increase in foodbank users and a rise in the use of “vitriolic language”.
People’s tolerance of minority groups has fallen, with these groups experiencing a “much harder time”, he warned.
Citing the 2016 murder of Labour MP Jo Cox a week before the Brexit referendum, he said: “We have had an MP murdered.
“In the New Testament, among the letters from John, it says, ‘Perfect love casts out fear’. So love, don’t fear.
“Because the kind of love that God shows is a love that doesn’t expect return, that forgives failure, that loves people despite their ups and downs.
“I am not saying we are in a crisis, I am just saying the direction of travel is not what we want.”
Asked what his Christmas message for the country was, the Archbishop said: “Don’t fear - deal with fear.
“That kind of love changes the world in a dramatic and wonderful way.”
The cleric was also quizzed about the row which engulfed Prince Andrew over his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Asked whether the Royal Family are bound by a higher moral code than the rest of society, he said: “I think generally speaking they do serve in a way that is extraordinary in what is literally, for them, a life sentence.
“I think to ask that they be superhuman saints is not what we should do because nobody is like that.
“Everybody makes mistakes, everybody is human.
“I am not commenting on any member of the Royal Family except to say that I am astonished at what a gift they are to this country.”
