Church of England archbishop says he was intimidated by Israeli militias in the West Bank The archbishop of the Church of England, Stephen Cottrell, on Thursday said that he was "intimidated by Israeli militias during a visit to the Holy Land" this year. Cottrell, the archbishop of York, said in a sermon that he was stopped at checkpoints and told by militias that he could not visit Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank, Hareetz reported. "It was sobering for me to see this wall for real on my visit to the Holy Land, and we were stopped at various checkpoints and intimidated by Israeli militias who told us that we couldn't visit Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank," he said. "But this Christmas morning here in York, as well as thinking about the walls that divide and separate the Holy Land, I'm also thinking of all the walls and barriers we erect across the whole of the world and, perhaps, most alarming, the ones we build around ourselves," he added. Earlier on Thursday, Pope Leo, in his Christmas sermon, decried the conditions Palestinians in Gaza are living under due to the Israeli war and the blockade on essential supplies.