The world is not hostile to the Gospel and Christians should not treat it as such, the Archbishop of Birmingham has said at the annual civic Mass on the feast of Christ the King. Fifty years on from the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Bernard Longley said, "We still need to look at the world not as an enemy that is indifferent or even hostile to the message of the Gospel but as the place where God's salvation has already reached into people's lives through the love of his Son Jesus Christ." Arguing that it was important to find "ever fresh ways to show the love of God for the world", he said that "part of the appeal of Pope Francis is his ability to show by small, personal gestures that God cares about those who have the greatest challenges in life." He said: "The Scriptures remind us that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son so that we might be healed and saved." Speaking at an event attended by the city's great and good, Archbishop Longley said that religious communities in the city were "often the first to recognise social needs within our local communities" and highlighted the Anawin Women's Centre, a faith-based centre that helps women and their children.