The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David James, today revealed the children of the city will be in his prayers this Christmas.

He wants them to believe there is a future here for them.

Bishop James, a father-of-four, said: "I want every child to think there is a future in Bradford.

"I want Bradford to be a city which is at peace with itself so children can have something to look forward to - to have a reason for living.

"For some that will be jobs. For others just to be able to play out safely so they can say: This is home."

The Bishop has spent his first year getting to know the clergy and next year plans to get out among the church communities.

Speaking just over a year since taking up his post he believes 2004 could provide the "little nudge of something to tip us into being positive."

"We have Broadway and Manningham Mills which are going to happen," he said.

"We just need one or two other things.

"A water feature such as rebuilding the canal would be great. Among the general public there is a level of scepticism, a tendency to think: 'This won't work either'. That needs to be overcome. We need to create confidence in Bradford and the church has a role to play in that. But it has to be something for all of us."

He said the Peace March in protest at the war in Iraq had been the highlight of his first year in the city - though he had not expected to be a frontline marcher!

"I was glad that so many people marched together from such different backgrounds," he said. "I thought I was just another marcher then I found myself at the front which surprised me a bit. I expected to be one of the crowd.

"However events have proved what we were saying. We were marching because we thought it was morally wrong. Events have shown it was strategically wrong as well. We are digging ourselves deeper into a hole, I feel."

He also said he would be praying for the Holy Land, for peace and for asylum seekers. "This Christmas I shall be praying for the Holy Land and for peace," he said. "I shall also be thinking about Mary, Joseph and Jesus seeking asylum and I shall pray for asylum seekers, as those that I have met have come from very difficult situations which I would not wish upon anybody."

The Bishop will attend a midnight mass near his home in Heaton, Bradford, then will then conduct a Christmas morning mass in Bradford Cathedral.

He praised local clergy for in Bradford for the work they do. He said: "The first impression is that we have some fantastic clergy in Bradford. I met them all in the first one or two months here. They are brilliant and are doing brilliant work."

But he said to keep up congregation figures the church had to have a seven-day appeal. He said: "People are going to church seven days a week. Churches may be involved with after-school clubs, lunches for the elderly, playgroups. I know vicar who runs a multi-cultural football club.

He also plans to make maximum use of the Bradford City FC season ticket. "I am sorry my prayers have not been more powerful for City. Every time I have watched them this season this have lost."

His Christmas message is the same every year - one of hope.

" I find there is a reawakened interest in spirituality and I hope the church meets people at their point of need," he said.

"I hope people find in the church, for which I am responsible, their spiritual hunger is met.