The Archbishop of Canterbury focused on persecuted Christians in his message at Canterbury Cathedral today.

The Most Rev Justin Welby reflected on a year that feels "awash with fear and division". In his Christmas Day message he said that amid the uncertainty and difficulty of 2016, he most found evidence of God's glory in oppressed believers.

The power of God can chase away "the fear of terror" and "economies of despair" he said.

"Uncertainty in the midst of much, but far from universal, prosperity is a sign of our trust being in the wrong things," he told the congregation in his own Cathedral of Canterbury.

"It tells us that our values are in the wrong place... Economic progress, technological progress, communication progress hasn't resulted in economic justice.

"It hasn't delivered glory for us."

Welby has walked a tightrope this year of offering a home to a Syrian refugee family in the grounds of Lambeth Palace while at the same time defending those who fear migration. He told Parliament's The House Magazine it was "outrageous" to label those who worry about the impact of immigration as racist insisting there was "genuine fear" about the impact on housing, jobs and the NHS.

But he has also clashed with UKIP leader Nigel Farage who he accused of an "inexcusable pandering to people's worries and prejudices, that is giving legitimisation to racism".

Farage leader was "accentuating [people's] fear for political gain and that is absolutely unacceptable", Welby told MPs in June.

And in his address today Welby said it has been among the poorest and most persecuted believers that he saw the glory of God this year.

"It is amongst those on the edge, those ignored, and amongst persecuted believers that I have most clearly seen the glory of God this year, a glory that chases away the fear of terror, the power of death, and the economies of despair.

"Let me tell you about a bomb-injured woman in Pakistan, bereft of her youngest child in the blast, who said, 'One thing we know, Jesus really is the Good Shepherd.'

"And a lonely elderly woman in London, and a trafficked teenager in Watford, both of whom spoke recently at a Carol service: they have seen the glory of God in Jesus and he has brought transformation to their lives."

He concluded: "How then do we find glory? The only place and person who can bring glory to us is the child of Bethlehem who became the victim on the cross."