World Bulletin / News Desk

Justin Welby is the 105th and current Archbishop of Canterbury and senior bishop in the Church of England. As Archbishop of Canterbury he is Primate of All England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Welby recently  gave an interview to New York Times. In the interview he said Christians have to recognize the slightly thin moral ground, the slightly thin moral standing, that they have. Here is the part of  Welby's interview with New York Times:

Q. "In the wake of the attacks in Paris, do you think Islam is a religion of peace?"

A. "It’s an incredibly complex question, and as Christians we have to recognize the slightly thin moral ground, the slightly thin moral standing, that we have. We only have to go back to the Balkans 20 years ago and Srebrenica to find Christians killing 7,000 Muslim men. So there’s an element of, Let’s not be too quick to stand in a glass house and throw stones.

"However, there is within many faiths, traditions, at the moment, a stream that says: “We need to change things, we need to change them quickly, and the way to do that is through violence.”

"There are aspects of Islamic practice and tradition at the moment that involve them in violence, as there are, incidentally, in Christian practice. The answer to that is not to condemn a whole religious tradition with one simple sentence, but nor is it to pretend it’s not happening."