Archbishop to pray for Middle East peace in first Easter sermon

Archbishop to pray for Middle East peace in first Easter sermonJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMaia DaviesPA MediaDame Sarah Mullally will deliver her first Easter sermon as archbishop at Canterbury Cathedral on SundayThe Archbishop of Canterbury will call for an end to "violence and destruction" in the Middle East during her first Easter sermon as leader of the Church of England.Dame Sarah Mullally will pray "with renewed urgency" for peace before a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral, as the US-Israel war against Iran enters its sixth week.She will call for all people of the Middle East and the Gulf to "receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for".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 "never have imagined the future that lay ahead".She will tell the congregation on Sunday: "This week our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead."Today, 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."May our Christian sisters and brothers know and celebrate the hope of the empty tomb - and may all people of the region receive the peace, justice and freedom they long for."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. 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's supreme leader at the start of the war.Why did US and Israel attack Iran and how long could the war last?Sarah Mullally nam...