“Please join me in this prayer today as we prepare for the momentous event of leaving the European Union”. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate Justin Welby, in a post on social media, called on the faithful of the Church of England to pray as the key date of 31 January approaches. “We have chosen our future outside the European Union”, the statement reads, with a reference to the “Lord of all goodness, in whose service is perfect freedom, and by whose grace alone we live in a country of choice and abundance”. The prayer is a plea to God to instil in our hearts “holiness and mercy towards each other”, that we may learn to “sympathise with those who mourn our decisions and rejoice at the celebration of those who are joyful”. “In that gracious mercy for one another”, the prayer ends, “may we be generous to forgive where we have been offended and to seek forgiveness where we have done wrong”.