The Archbishop of Canterbury has paid tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales in a New Year's message which called on Britons to continue her work in building a more caring society.

Dr George Carey said it had been a year of "big changes and of deep emotions" and a new mood was emerging which centred on "a wistful longing for a better world".

He said: "The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, gave these thoughts and feelings a vivid and dramatic expression.

Diana "intensely human and fallible like us all"

"For here was someone who, though intensely human and fallible like all of us, expressed kindness.

"She was, in the deepest sense of the word, a "caring" person. And perhaps that amazing outpouring of grief last September arose partly because we recognised in Diana some of those hopes for a more caring society."

Kindness 'sacrificed'

Archbishop Carey said simple human kindness had been sacrificed over the past decade in the drive to for success and the greater emphasis on competition.

He said the tremendous outpourings of widespread grief following the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa of Calcutta a few days later suggested it was time to reclaim those values of caring.

Dr Carey said: "A caring society won't emerge by magic, or because the Government passes some bills, or even because there is some strong public desire for it.

"A caring society will come into being when we learn to care, when each one of us makes it our personal determination to live more caring lives."

Unsung heroes

Dr Carey said he had been deeply moved, especially in recent months during his visits to the Children's Society charity at the kindness of ordinary people.

He said: "I've seen at first hand the devotion and love of volunteers who give time to raise money and to care for children.

"They - and others like them - are the unsung heroes in our communities whose loving kindness makes things happen".
 

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