Love thy neighbour to beat poverty - bishop

Poverty is one of the most significant issues facing the capital, says the Bishop of London.

The Rt Rev Richard Chartres was writing in the Evening Standard this week in support of the newspaper's campaign to raise £1 million for hard-up Londoners.

He said much progress had been made since the 1800s, when the dreadful living conditions of London's working classes earned the capital the nickname "the city of dreadful night".

"Looking back can reinforce hope that real improvement can be made with the right kind of passion and wisdom," he said.

The bishop warned that the disparities between the wealthy and deprived areas in London were "stark".

Poverty was, he said, inhibiting social mobility and stifling the ambitions of many of the capital's young people.

Around 650,000 people attend worship at one of the 4,000 churches in Greater London. Many churches provide services for the most deprived people in their communities, including healthy eating programmes, debt counselling and free childcare.

Bishop Chartres said the thousands of churches were a "massive potential asset as the capital faces hard times".

He said the eradication of poverty required "the resources that only governments can provide" but added that long-term change would only be sustainable if communities were strong and "given the means and the vision to seek local solutions".

"If we start to build 'the small society' the transforming effect, especially in our wired-up world, could be immense," he said.

He paid tribute to Christians serving in their communities and encouraged Londoners to love their neighbours.

"Love for God is not an emotion but costly self giving of the kind Christians see in the cross of Jesus Christ," he said.

"It has become unfashionable to own up to such a motivation but whatever our personal motives it is undeniable that if we all loved our neighbour within our small slice of society then we could all glimpse something more like the heavenly Jerusalem in London town."