The Archbishop of Canterbury will reflect on the London Bridge terror attack during his Christmas Day sermon. Justin Welby is to tell worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral that darkness is a "monster that lies" as he refers to the terrorist atrocity which killed 25-year-old Jack Merritt and 23-year-old Saskia Jones. During his address, the archbishop is also expected to speak of a recent visit to Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has had an outbreak of the Ebola virus. He will deliver his sermon during a Eucharist service at 11am this morning. "Canterbury - a place of some 50,000 people, is a city of peace celebrating Christmas," he is expected to tell the congregation. "Now imagine a city five times this size where its citizens face disease and war this December 25. I was there in October. It is called Beni. "It has been at the centre of the second worst outbreak of Ebola; about three thousand people have died. Its Anglican bishop is alight with Christ, always present, always giving of himself. "Darkness is a monster that lies. Its growling claims seem to call out with a louder volume than the love filled whispers of the light. "We see the shadows out of the corner of our eyes. They may be violence as in the Congo or on London Bridge." He is due to add: "Whether solid or illusion, they are the reality with which we live, if we believe the dark." While discussing darkness and light, the archbishop, leader of the Church of England, is also due to tell the cathedral in Kent that "the closer we get to the light the more our imperfections are revealed". Last night, the Archbishop took to Twitter to deliver a message to people feeling "embarrassed or ashamed" in a message of unity on Christmas Eve. Mr Welby appeared to reach out to those living in poverty over the festive period in a series of tweets about Jesus's humble beginnings and the Nativity story. In his festive reflections, the archbishop said the "dirty, makeshift, less-than-ideal" birthplace of Jesus may have been "embarrassing or shameful" for Mary and Joseph. "The Christmas story is so familiar, it's easy to forget it turns the whole world upside down," he tweeted. "This is God taking the risk not just of being a vulnerable human baby - but being born in the last place you'd expect to find him. "Picture the scene of Jesus' birth - dirty, makeshift, less-than-ideal. Perhaps embarrassing or shameful for Mary and Joseph. But God just wanted to be with us. "This is God saying there are no people I will refuse to love. This is God saying there are no places I won't bless. This is God saying whoever is outcast, you will find me among them. "This is God saying things don't have to be neat and tidy for me to love them. "God meets us wherever we are, however messy. If you're embarrassed or ashamed, God is neither. "So whatever your Christmas looks like - full of joy or sadness, surrounded by people or alone - my prayer is that you know this: God is with you. That's what 'Immanuel' means - 'God with us'. "That's the miracle. Wherever you are, I wish you a Happy Christmas."
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