According to the Church Times, the Most Rev Justin Welby said that those who voted to stay in the EU needed to consider the rights of “democracy” and focus on “reuniting the country.”

Speaking at a question and answer session at the Christian festival Greenbelt, Welby said: “We have to take seriously the fact that the majority voted Leave.

“We may not like it, but that is democracy; and that means we have to stop whingeing about it and do something about reuniting the country.”

He said he was a “democrat” who did not support the campaign for a second vote.

He warned that the country must come together behind a “vision for this country that is outward-looking, is done top-down, middle-out and bottom-up” and suggested the Church of England could help to ease tensions between Leavers and Remainers.

“‘The Church is one of those institutions that can do that,” he added.

The Archbishop’s comments follow reports last week that he is in talks to chair public meetings to discuss how a no-deal Brexit can be avoided.

He has been approached by a cross-party group of senior MPs, including Christian Conservative Dame Caroline Spelman.

The forum is due to take place at Coventry Cathedral next month.

The Archbishop has insisted that any forum should not be a ‘Trojan Horse’ for cancelling Brexit and has received support from his fellow clergymen, the Bishop of Buckingham.

The Right Rev…

He was trapped for 25 minutes in a lift in the Vatican and had to be rescued by firefighters.

It appeared to be an electrical issue that caused the lift to stop as the pontiff said there was a “drop in tension”.

He asked the crowd to applaud the Holy See firefighters.

Pope Francis also urged governments to show the “political will” to take drastic steps to deal with climate change and said it is time to abandon dependence on fossil fuels.

Francis issued the appeal in a message on Sunday, the start of several weeks of prayer by Christians to raise political awareness about pollution and exploitation of natural resources.

He also urged people to reflect on “thoughtful and harmful” daily decisions about consumption and “self-centred” attitudes towards Creation.

Francis said that at the UN Climate Action Summit later this month, “governments will have the responsibility of showing the political will to take drastic measures” to achieve as quickly as possible zero net greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the average increase in global temperature in line with the Paris climate accords.

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Francis issued the appeal in a message on Sunday, the start of several weeks of prayer by Christians to raise political awareness about pollution and exploitation of natural resources.

He also urged people to reflect on “thoughtful and harmful” daily decisions about consumption and “self-centred” attitudes towards Creation.

Francis said that at the UN Climate Action Summit later this month, “governments will have the responsibility of showing the political will to take drastic measures” to achieve as quickly as possible zero net greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the average increase in global temperature in line with the Paris climate accords.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.