The Archbishop of Canterbury, Her Grace the Most Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally, gave the following address during a meeting with the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem today, on the final day of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
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Address by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
24th June 2026
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.” (Ps 133:1)
Your Beatitude, Archbishop Hosam, esteemed Heads of Churches, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Thank you for your warm welcome and for gathering here this afternoon.
I would especially like to thank Your Beatitude, Patriarch Theophilos, for your gracious hospitality, both in hosting this meeting and in welcoming us earlier to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To pray together in that holy place, at the heart of the Christian story, has been a profound gift.
Over the past few days, I have had the privilege of making a pilgrimage through this land. Pilgrimage is, of course, a journey through places. But it is also a journey of the heart and mind. It is an exercise in listening: listening to God, listening to one another, and allowing ourselves to be changed by what we hear and encounter.
For me, this pilgrimage has been a school of attentiveness and solidarity. Through the people I have met, the stories I have heard, and the churches, communities, hospitals, and schools I have visited, I have found myself drawn more deeply into the realities of life experienced by Palestinian Christians and by many others who call this land home.
I have heard stories of uncertainty and fear, of separation and displacement, of economic hardship and restricted opportunity. I have listened to accounts of perseverance amidst immense pressure, and to the quiet courage of those who continue to bear witness to Christ in circumstances that would test even the strongest faith.
These encounters have deepened my understanding and enlarged my compassion, allowing me to share, however briefly, in the joys, sorrows, hopes, and struggles of the people of this land. I will carry these stories with me as I return home, and I promise you all that I will bear witness to what I have seen and heard.
These encounters have also reminded me that the Church follows a suffering Saviour, the Servant King, who is with the vulnerable and the afflicted. Again and again, I have heard the cry of Christian communities here. It is not merely a cry to be noticed. It is a cry to be accompanied. A cry that asks not for cheap grace, nor for sympathetic words alone, but for solidarity expressed in both word and deed.
The Gospel invites us to “come and see”, sends us to “go and tell”, and calls us to remain and serve. To remain alongside one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and witnessing together to the reconciling love of Christ. That is why I have come. To listen. To learn. To pray. And, in some small measure, to stand alongside you.
Heads of Churches, fellow leaders of Christ’s Church, I know the hardships you face, but I also want to acknowledge the extraordinary significance of your ministry. You embody that Gospel call to “stay and serve” in a city unlike any other.
Jerusalem occupies a unique place in the spiritual imagination of billions of people. It is sacred to the three great monotheistic religions. Yet for Christians, Jerusalem is more than a symbol. It is the city of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. It is the city from which the Gospel first went out into the world, and to which our Lord will one day return.
It is here that St James, the brother of our Lord, exercised leadership in the earliest Christian community. It is here that the Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15 met to discern together the movement of the Holy Spirit within the Church. And it is here that one of the ancient patriarchal sees of Christendom took root, becoming one of the historic centres of the Church’s life and witness.
For seventeen hundred years, since the Council of Nicaea, Christians have confessed together their faith in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We continue to proclaim that Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom will have no end.”
As we await the glorious return of the Prince of Peace to Jerusalem, your ministry in this city carries a significance far beyond its geographical boundaries.
You are custodians of a living Christian presence in the very place where the foundations of our faith were laid.
Your witness matters to the whole Church. Your perseverance matters to the whole Church. And your unity matters to the whole Church.
I wish once again to express my gratitude to you, Your Beatitude, for your gracious hospitality today, and for your support of Archbishop Hosam, the Anglican presence in this land, and especially Al Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza City. I also give thanks to God that you were again able to visit Gaza this week with Cardinal Pizzaballa. Your pastoral presence is an encouragement to the suffering faithful, and an inspiration to the Church throughout the world.
I would like to reiterate my invitation to visit Lambeth Palace. Indeed, I would extend the same invitation more widely to all the Heads of Churches gathered here this afternoon. It would be a privilege to welcome you, to deepen our friendship, and to continue these conversations in a spirit of prayer and fellowship.
As Archbishop of Canterbury, I see my calling, above all, as being a shepherd to Christ's flock; to encourage the Church to place its confidence not in its own strength, but in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and to offer the hospitality of God’s Kingdom to all whom we encounter.
I see my ministry as helping to foster a Church of hope, both within the Anglican Communion and across the wider Body of Christ. A Church that does not look away from suffering, but faces it with honesty and hope. A Church that trusts in the reconciling power of Christ. A Church built not on anxiety or fear, but on Christ, our rock.
And as we seek to live this vocation, I find myself returning often to the beautiful image of the Holy Trinity depicted in Rublev’s icon. There we see the hospitality of God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are turned towards one another in perfect love, yet the table remains open. Humanity – all of us – is invited into the divine fellowship. We are welcomed into the life of the Triune God, and the closer we draw to God, the closer we are drawn to one another.
As we gaze upon the beauty of God, we discover anew that unity is not our achievement, but God’s gift. We then become sisters and brothers because we share in the life of Christ, our risen Lord and great High Priest.
My prayer is that, by God’s grace, we may continue to grow together into that unity for which Christ prayed; that we may bear witness together to the hope of the Gospel; and that we may offer to this city, to this land, and to the world a foretaste of the peace of God’s coming Kingdom.
Thank you.
