Out of Buckingham Palace and away from Windsor Castle. Charles III chose Westminster Abbey to address his subjects on the occasion of his fourth Christmas as king. The sovereign continues to look for his figure to enter history and leave something of himself to posterity and, distancing himself from tradition, has decided to record his speech in the Lady Chapel of the abbey that saw him crowned after the death of Elizabeth II. 2025 was the year of meetings with two successive leaders of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis I and then Leo XIV. Was the year of the jubilee of the pilgrims of hope cwho, last October, brought the head of the Anglican church back to Rome to reopen a dialogue interrupted 500 years ago by Henry VIII who sanctioned the divorce between the faiths that today Charles III absolutely wants to mend.
In January the sovereign had also visited Auschwitz, in the year of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and, between Christmas, faith and religion, the politics which seems absent, in reality it is always in the background. The Christmas Carol is celebrated in Westminster Princess of Wales which, in 2022, brought a great message of solidarity towards the Ukrainian people by staging the voices of the St Mary’s Ukranian School Choir, made up of refugee children.
The Westminster Choir also sings the music of the war-torn country and often hosts prayer vigils for peace. The king’s fourth Christmas message cannot therefore help but wink, albeit in a very indirect way, at his political positions and his strongly spiritual imprint, continuing to intertwine his own history with that of his kingdom. Last year it was there illness to determine the decision to dedicate the speech to all social and health workers of the country, moving away, for the first time in history, from the usual setting behind the table of a royal room among flowers, lamps and family portraits. Then the choice fell on the Fitzrovia Chapel, in the former Middlesex hospital in the heart of London, for a speech that came one year after the announcement of its tumor diagnosis at the same time as that received from Kate.
For twelve months the monarchy had shown all its courage in openly addressing the issue of salute fragile royals, who have become “a number” like everyone else. Charles III and after him the Princess of Wales, had embraced doctors, patients and nurses to share a battle for life and give support to those who suffer, trying to develop a stronger culture of early diagnosisvery weak in the UK. This which is coming to an end will instead be remembered as the year of scandals and of the continuous attempt of the king and the family who remained at his side, to give dignity to an institution put to the test by the behavior and associations of Andrea Mountbatten-Windsor, from whom the title of prince and of Sarah Ferguson. Set up in front of the BBC cameras which recorded his Christmas speech before he left for Sandringham, an elderly king still battling cancer and who a few weeks ago wanted to reassure his subjects about the positive progress of his treatments, he stood next to the remains of the unknown soldier and the tombs of fifteen British sovereigns. Among these also figures Edward the Confessor, who died in 1066 with the arrival of the Normans; a king who had lived like a monk, a model to reiterate Charles III’s desire to be remembered as the protector of faiths. And the Windsor family Christmas.
KING CHARLES’ FULL SPEECH
A few weeks ago, the Queen and I had the pleasure of making a state visit to the Vatican, where we prayed with Pope Leo at a historic moment of spiritual unity. Together we celebrated the Jubilee theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. The term “pilgrimage” is little used today, but it has a particular meaning for our modern world and, especially at Christmas, means traveling towards the future and at the same time going back to remember the past and learn from its lessons.
We did this over the summer, when we celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day. As the years pass, fewer and fewer people remember the end of World War II, but the courage and sacrifice of our military, and the way communities came together in the face of such a great challenge, sends a timeless message to us all. These are the values that have shaped our country and the Commonwealth.
While we hear of divisions both at home and abroad, those are the values we must never lose sight of. For example, it is impossible not to be deeply moved by the age of the fallen, as the headstones in our war cemeteries remind us. The young men who fought and helped save us from defeat in both wars were often only 18, 19 or 20 years old.
Travel is a recurring theme in the story of Christmas. The holy family undertook the journey to Bethlehem and arrived without a home or adequate shelter.
The Three Kings made a pilgrimage from the East to worship Christ in his cradle and the shepherds traveled from the fields to the city in search of Jesus, the Savior of the world; in both cases they undertook the journey together with others and relied on the company and kindness of others. Through physical and mental challenges they found an inner strength and even today, in these times of uncertainty, these ways of living are valued by all the great faiths and offer us a profound source of hope, of resilience in the face of adversity, of peace through forgiveness, simply by knowing our neighbors and showing respect for one another, creating new friendships.
While our world, in fact, seems to spin even faster, our traveling can stop to calm our minds. To put it in the words of TS Eliot, at the still point of the turning world, and allow our souls to renew themselves. So, with the great diversity of our communities, we can find the strength to ensure that good triumphs over evil.
It seems to me that we must appreciate the values of compassion and reconciliation, in the way our Lord lived and died.
I’ve heard so many examples of this this year, both here and abroad. These stories of courage triumphing over adversity give me hope, from our venerable military veterans to the generous aid workers in this century’s most dangerous conflict zones, to the ways in which individuals and communities demonstrate spontaneous courage, instinctively putting themselves in harm’s way to defend others.
When I meet people of different faiths I find it extremely encouraging to hear how much we have in common, a shared desire for peace and a deep respect for all forms of life. If we can find time in our journey through life to reflect on these virtues, we can all make the future more hopeful.
Of course, the greatest pilgrimage of all is the journey we celebrate today, the story of the one who came down from heaven to earth, whose refuge was a stable, and who shared his life with the poor and alone. It was a pilgrimage with a purpose announced by the angels so that there would be peace on Earth. This is a prayer for peace and reconciliation, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, which rang out in the fields near Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago and still rings out from there and around the world today. It is a prayer for our times and also for our communities as we walk our life’s journey. With these words and with all my heart, I wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.
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