Justin Welby has begun the search for a new director of communications as he seeks to overcome the negative headlines that accompanied his first trip to the Middle East.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s failure to visit Bethlehem or Nazareth last week prompted fury among Palestinians, overshadowing the entire journey. He is now to advertise for the post as part of a root-and-branch reordering of his team.
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Gracious God, we offer thanks for the witness of Harriett Beecher Stowe, whose fiction inspired thousands with compassion for the shame and sufferings of enslaved peoples, and who enriched her writings with the cadences of The Book of Common Prayer. Help us, like her, to strive for thy justice, that our eyes may see the glory of thy Son, Jesus Christ, when he comes to reign with thee and the Holy Spirit in reconciliation and peace, one God, now and always. Amen.
Into thy hands, O Lord, we commit ourselves this day. Give to each one of us a watchful, humble, and diligent spirit, that we may seek in all things to know thy will; and when we know it may gladly perform it, to the honour and glory of thy name.
Praise the LORD! O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever! Who can utter the mighty doings of the LORD, or show forth all his praise?
–Psalm 106:1-2
At the final whistle they danced on the field and they danced in the stands.
This was Brazil, united. This was a nation that had rediscovered its faith in its beloved Selecao, a nation that believed in its heroes once more. As Neymar, Dani Alves and Fred shook tambourines and tapped drums near the centre circle, the party was just beginning across Brazil.
There was samba in the streets and joy and delight on the faces of those who trailed away from the stadium. There were still thousands in the Maracana an hour after the final whistle, simply basking in the joy and the jubilation.