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How Jesus turns monarchy on its head

Today (7 January 2007) is the day of Christmas celebrations for 150 million Orthodox Christians across the world ‚Ä' the branch of the global Christian family which still claims the deepest links with the post-apostolic Church.

A television documentary following British church leaders on a recent pre-Christmas 'pilgrimage of peace' to the Israel Palestine ‚Ä' and particularly Bethlehem, traditionally held to be the birthplace of Jesus ‚Ä' is due to be screened this weekend.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, says that the care he saw being given to a baby from an economically deprived family in Bethlehem during his pilgrimage there was a shining reminder of the Christmas message ‚Ä' that God's revolutionary love comes to us as a gift, in the face of all life's trials and joys.

In his Christmas message to the churches in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah has offered a vision of peace, justice, freedom and an end to the occupation for the Holy Land ‚Ä' so that it might truly be a sign of hope to the world.

Church leaders preparing for Christmas, people who justify violence in the name of religion, and protagonists of anti-gay causes in the Anglican Communion and elsewhere, woke up to a shock this morning ‚Ä' far more people in Britain think that religion causes harm and division than good, according to an ICM survey conducted on 12-13 December for The Guardian newspaper.

The campaigning Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice has issued a call to the UK government to build more homes ‚Ä' and thereby to end the injustice of families who will be spending an unhappy Christmas in temporary accommodation.