Archbishop says recession helps dispel materialism

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said on Sunday that the recession had allowed people to realise that there is more to life than possessions and pleasure.

The Archbishop praised people for showing restraint with money and possessions in his sermon at Canterbury Cathedral.

He said, “The present financial crisis has dealt a heavy blow to the idea that human fulfilment can be thought about just in terms of material growth.”

Dr Williams also noted that in the face of financial hardship more people were becoming interested in the lives of monks and nuns.

He said, “Accepting voluntary limitation to your acquisitiveness, your sexual appetite, your freedom of choice doesn’t look so absurd after all as a path to some sort of stability and mutual care.

“We should be challenging ourselves and our Church to a new willingness to help this witness to flourish and develop.”

Over the Easter weekend, the Archbishop also wrote a letter for the Mail on Sunday, in which he said that the view that Britain had become a secular country was false.

He also reaffirmed God’s love for all people regardless of whether they succeed or fail in life.