The Archbishop of Canterbury admitted that he struggles with doubt about the existence of God.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby said he wrestles with disbelief – most recently when out on his morning jog.

He also acknowledged that Christians have trouble explaining why God allows suffering in the world.

The extraordinarily honest admission – during which the Archbishop said he was straying into territory where an Anglican leader should not go – came as he spoke during a visit to Bristol Cathedral earlier this week.

Asked if he ever struggled with doubt, the Archbishop said: ‘Yes I do. I mean there are moments where you think “Is there a God?”, “Where is God?”’

He added that there were moments when he was struck with doubt even while praying, including during his morning jogs near his official London residence Lambeth Palace, the Daily Mail reports.

‘The other day I was praying over something as I was running and I ended up saying to God “Look this is all very well but isn’t it about time you did something, if you’re there” – which is probably not what the Archbishop of Canterbury should say.’

But he added: ‘It is not about feelings, it is about the fact that God is faithful and the extraordinary thing about being a Christian is that God is faithful when we are not.’

Asked how to persuade people who think religion is outdated, he said Christians did not have the answer to why God allows suffering.

‘We turn the tide in a number of ways,’ he said. ‘We know about Jesus, we can’t explain all the questions in the world, we can’t explain about suffering, we can’t explain loads of things but we know about Jesus. We can talk about Jesus – I always do that because most of the other questions I can’t answer.’