London, England - The Church of England's most senior cleric has spelt out the meaning of Christmas for Christians, following renewed claims in Britain of the festival being "banned".
"Christmas is the Christian's Christmas present to everybody else. Christmas, for a Christian, tells us why people matter," said Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Williams was forced to explain the significance of Christmas following the resurrection of that perennial British newspaper potboiler -- local authorities changing the name of Christmas for fear of offending ethnic minorities.
This year, Lambeth Council was the target, after apparently decreeing Christmas lights should be rechristened "winter lights" and "celebrity lights".
That decision was reversed following complaints and to show there were no hard feelings, Williams -- whose official London residence, Lambeth Palace, lies in the borough -- was asked to switch on the lights.
Speaking after the switch-on outside the Old Vic Theatre with actor Kevin Spacey, Williams said Christmas was the Christian community's gift to the world and demonstrated why people matter.
"They matter because God took us seriously, seriously enough to get involved with our lives, to suffer with us and change things. That is what Christians believe and Christmas exists because of that belief," he added.
The Church of England is part of the Anglican communion, which has a worldwide following of about 70 million people.