Christianity is facing "elimination" in the Middle East at the hands of an Islamic State "apocalypse", the Archbishop of Canterbury warned Friday in his annual Christmas Day sermon.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby said ISIS is "igniting a trail of fear, violence, hatred and determined oppression,"
Sky News reported.
The Islamist extremists are "a Herod of today" - a reference to the Biblical despotic king of Judea at the time of Jesus's birth.
"Confident that these are the last days, using force and indescribable cruelty, they (IS) seem to welcome all opposition, certain that the warfare unleashed confirms that these are indeed the end times," he said.
"They hate difference, whether it is Muslims who think differently, Yazidis or Christians, and because of them the Christians face elimination in the very region in which Christian faith began.
"This apocalypse is defined by themselves and heralded only by the angel of death.
"To all who have been or are being dehumanised by the tyranny and cruelty of a Herod or an ISIS, a Herod of today, God's judgement comes as good news, because it promises justice."
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