I am writing regarding the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

He is apparently seeking a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI (Vatican visit for Dr John, The Press, January 12). Although I agree this is a good thing in principle, am I alone in thinking Dr Sentamu is yet again craving yet more publicity?

I am not a practising Christian. I feel the church in general is outdated, and some of its ideas and practices a little hypocritical. Yet I still feel religion has a big part to play in today's society.

Dr Sentamu does his utmost to appear in the limelight at every given opportunity, whether it be holding aloft a football scarf, or cutting up his dog collar on national television.

Let's remember, this man holds the title of Archbishop of York, and he should be doing more day-to-day in local communities, rather than seeking publicity. When is the last time we have seen OUR archbishop doing good work in troubled areas of York, such as Foxwood or Clifton? Answer - never.

In the words of another much-publicised figure, Ali G, this man should "Keep It Real", instead of safeguarding his own celebrity status by being as extroverted as possible.

I believe in the world of the C-list celebrity, he is doing nothing to encourage standard, normal working class people to believe in the church in general.

Adam McCartney, Brailsford Crescent, York.


* The Archbishop of Canterbury was right to highlight the plight of 130,000 homeless children at Christmas, and that under New Labour this has risen by 128 per cent since 1997. He mentioned that Christmas is a time for giving to others in need. Well, why didn't he make a start?

As the leading figure of the Church of England he's in charge of a huge financial portfolio, 15 per cent of which is property in London's West End, and even ten per cent interest and land in the Metro Centre at Gateshead.

Hundreds of thousands of acres and tens of thousands of churches are owned by the Church of England.

The centre of the archbishop's belief, and in essence spiritual chairman of CofE plc, is Jesus Christ. Why does the church possess such wealth when it is against the philosophy of its chairman?

Its a good job the archbishop will never receive a knock on his door from his spiritual boss, as there would be some explaining to do. The church seems to worship the god of terrestrial spatial awareness - land ownership.

William the Conqueror slaughtered the people of England and used the power of the church to install his own power base of clergy to control the populace.

Henry VIII then stole the wealth of monasteries during The Reformation and made himself head of the Church of England.

Isn't it about time the church gave something back?

Churches were once used to house cattle in one end. If it was good enough for them why can't the church convert its often vast, empty cold structures into homes for the homeless?

Perhaps in time for next Christmas, archbishop?

T Scaife, Manor Drive, York.