Archbishop of Canterbury promises to help give Palestinians 'the freedom you deserve'

The Archbishop of Canterbury has promised to give Palestinians the "freedom they deserve" on a landmark visit to the West Bank.

Dame Sarah Mullally delivered a sermon on Sunday at St Peter's Church in Birzeit, becoming the first holder of the office to visit the town.

She told the congregation: "I will not forget what I have seen and what I have heard. I could not forget it. I will carry these encounters with me as I return home.

"I will use my role as Archbishop to seek the peace you desire and the freedom you deserve."

The 64-year-old began her five-day pilgrimage across the Holy Land on Saturday.

There, she said: "I am aware that I have certain freedoms that many of you do not enjoy, being able to cross borders and checkpoints, spending time in neighbouring communities, and going to Jerusalem.

"I am deeply humbled by this opportunity to join you in prayer and fellowship."

Dame Sarah continued: "I recognise the costliness of life for you and your families, and the costliness of following Jesus here in this land, which was our Saviour's home and is your home."

Her clergy colleagues have also visited the Holy Land in recent months - though some have come back with accusations of a "genocide" at Israeli's hands.

Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York claimed in December that Israeli militias "intimidated" him during his own visit to the Levant.

In his Christmas Day sermon at York Minster, he said he was prevented from visiting Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank after being stopped at checkpoints.

Shortly before that trip, he accused Israel of committing "genocidal acts" in the Palestinian territories.

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Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, also addressed the General Synod last July.

There, he compared Gaza's food distribution systems to the Hunger Games, a series of fiction books in which characters battle to be the last one standing in an arena.

Dame Sarah has sought to balance her work with condemning antisemitism back in Britain.

In her inaugural address, she declared the Church "stands with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms" following the Yom Kippur terror attack in Manchester last October.

She then met Sir Keir Starmer at Downing Street in May to discuss social cohesion and interfaith relations.

Her current pilgrimage includes visits to Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Birzeit, alongside healthcare projects and a school operated by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem.

She will also meet several patriarchs and church leaders during the trip.

On her first day, she made a video call to the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, which is run by the Diocese of Jerusalem.

In 2023, hundreds were killed in an explosion in its courtyard, which Western intelligence sources suggested was caused by a failed rocket launch in Gaza by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist group.

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