Politics
“As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, my continuing prayers are that the United States of America may find reconciliation after a bitter campaign, and that Mr Trump may be given wisdom, insight and grace as he faces the tasks before him. Together we pray for all the people of the United States”. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Church Justin Welby posted this short prayer on Twitter this morning. In the past few months, the different views of the US President-elect and the British Archbishop have become more apparent, particularly on immigration. “I don’t think we should fall into euphoria about the Republican candidate’s victory. Time will show what kind of president he will be, and whether he will fulfil the promises he made during the election campaign”, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, president of the Department for External Relations and a leading figure in the Moscow Patriarchate, told the Russian news agency Interfax. “His election gives hope for improvement of the entire system of international relations, for the creation of a unified global coalition against terrorism”, he added. According to the Metropolitan, so far the US politics in the Middle East has been “short-sighted and wrong”. Donald Trump has “criticized the American government” for this and for “giving up alliance relations with Russia. And the people of America heard him”, Metropolitan Hilarion added.
