Archbishop of Canterbury Reflects on 2005 Disasters

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has looked back on the major disasters and tragedies of 2005 in his New Year speech.

Dr Williams said in his speech that the tragic events of 2005 underline the fact that human suffering affects everyone, before urging everyone to help others to feel less alone, reported the BBC. “The challenge for us is to close the gap...to be there alongside the lonely and the suffering,” he said in his message which he delivered while visiting the 999 Club, a drop-in centre in Deptford, south-east London. "When disasters and tragedies come on us thick and fast - and this last year has seen so many horrors of suffering, natural and man-made - it's painful to accept that we can't just do something straight away to set it all right," he said. "So we need to see that the one thing anyone can do is to try and close the gap, to let others know that they're not on their own."