Anglican leader preaches on pollution

LONDON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The leader of the Church of England is to turn his thoughts on Christmas Day to the need to take care of the Earth's environment.

Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is to deliver a Christmas sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent County calling on people to see the link between the material and the spiritual when it comes to the "fragile" balance between mankind and the environment, the BBC reported.

"When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just put our material survival at risk; more profoundly we put our spiritual sensitivity at risk -- the possibility of being opened up to endless wonder by the world around us," Williams said in prepared remarks reported by the British network.

Williams will tell his congregation more effort is "clearly required of us" to live in harmony.

"The delight and reverence we should have toward the things of creation is intensified many times where human relationships are concerned," he said. "And if peace is to be more than a pause in open conflict, it must be grounded in this passionate amazed reverence for others."