Younan told the Stuttgart assembly that elected him that he hoped that the church help to contribute further to peace in the Middle East.

The church must continue to focus on shared values in order to oppose extremism and xenophobia, especially anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, said Younan, who is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land.

The conflict in my own home is never far from my thoughts, he said. It is my hope that God will allow Israelis and Palestinians to see the work of God in each other, and reach a political settlement.