Archbishop of York: 'It feels like a Groundhog Christmas' with Covid increasing

The Archbishop of York says this year, for many people, is feeling like a "Groundhog Christmas".

The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell compares the reality of again living with increasing Covid cases like the 1993 film "Groundhog Day" in which Bill Murray's character lives the same day over and over again.

He said: "Just a couple of weeks ago we were all hoping Christmas was going to be different, better this year.

"I think it is going to be a bit better than last year but I know that many people are also recognising that they can't do the things that they wanted to do because of this latest wave of Covid.

"There's no point pretending that it hasn't been a dark, difficult, hard, long year for all of us."

The Archbishop told ITV News of the light he has seen during another difficult year, examples of people going out of their way to help others, and reflects on the traditional Christian message of the hope brought by Jesus' birth.

Looking back at the attention given during 2021 to environmental issues following the COP26 conference to discuss climate change in Glasgow, he said that he would like to see people think more carefully about how much of the earth's resources they need to use.

"In the Lord's Prayer is the line, 'give us today our daily bread'. I think what it means is, give me enough for today," he said.

"Stop me from wanting more than enough, but we live in a culture and economy that is built on the idea that we must have more all the time. Somehow we need to break our addiction to 'more' and learn what 'enough' looks like."

Watch more from James Webster's interview with the Archbishop of York in which he also explains his Christmas wish for 2021: