"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it."

"When the Lord comes, he will bring to light things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart"

It is a privilege and a pleasure for us to be with you this morning. I want to thank you, Your Eminence, for welcoming me here this morning. In thanking you for your welcome I bring greetings and prayers not just of the Church of England but of the entire Anglican Communion throughout the world.

Over the last few years, you have rarely been far from our thoughts and our prayers. Our television screens have shown horrific pictures of the evils of war. We have seen your suffering, we have seen your grieving, we have seen and shared your pain. It is good to be here with my wife and colleagues to tell you that many in Great Britain have held you in our prayers. We have endeavoured in many different ways to send humanitarian aid to you. We are so glad that at last there is the strong chance that peace will prevail.

We meet to pray together this morning during the season of Advent. This is the time when Christians remember the coming of our Lord in glory and judgement. It is a time of hope, of expectation, of self-examination, reflection and repentance.

Let me just refer to two of those words; repentance and hope.

Repentance means `turning to God'. As Christians, we use this time of Advent to reflect upon ourselves and our need for God. We set against ourselves the perfect expression of humanity that we see in Jesus Christ. We know all too well that all of us fall far short of that example and we live in a world with too much sin, error and cruelty. You in this country have been through so much. Your country has been rent through war. It is hard to forgive those who have done so much harm. But a land which has no room for forgiveness and repentance is a land which will always live in the past. It will have no future.

This is not an unusual story. As many of you know, we in England are in the middle of the peace process concerning the troubles that have taken place for 25 years in Northern Ireland. Last year, when in Dublin, when I was reflecting on the way in which the English have had their share of responsibility through bitter times, I felt it necessary to apologise publicly for all that we had done over the years to fan the flames of anger, bitterness and resentment. Much to my surprise and pleasure, I received many letters from Irish Catholics who in turn asked forgiveness for wrongs they had committed.

Repentance, the acknowledgement of our faults, is a first step towards reconciliation. We need to be able to face up to our failings and in love and, within the Grace of God, to forgive those who acknowledge that they have failed us. It is not for me a stranger to tell you what form this might take for your country - for Christians, at the very least, it will begin with a changed attitude which starts to believe and hope.

Indeed, that is my second word - hope. Just a short while before he died, President Rabin of Israel uttered these words:

Lift your eyes with hope
Not through the rifle sights
Sing a song for love
And not for wars.

Surely that must be our hope in Bosnia as well as for Israel. Hope is a light that shows us a way ahead.

We have a saying in English "it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness".

Each Christian, each believer in a God who loves, is a candle that can pierce the darkness. you who live in Sarajevo - Christians and Muslims alike - are tinny beacons of light and faith that have now an opportunity to light up a new pathway. Hope is a light that you must hold high for your children and grandchildren. Peace is such a precious commodity that people of goodwill should cherish this opportunity to find a permanent solution to the ugliness of war.

Thank you for your invitation to be with you today and to share in your worship.

May God bless you and all whom you love this Christmas.

All of you here in Bosnia stand at the threshold of peace. You cannot know quite what the next few months and years will mean for you and for your country, but remember at this season of Advent - `The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it.'