New Year's resolution

King Charles delivering his Christmas Day speech   Source: Christian Today

I did not have the same enthusiasm for the King's Christmas message as I did for his mother's messages. 

As head of the Church of England, HM Queen Elizabeth II could always be relied on to uphold the Christian faith.

In a 2022 entry I wrote Christianity on the wane in England and Wales commenting on Charles' wish be 'Defender of Faith', rather than 'Defender of the Faith', as though all faiths are the same when they clearly are not. 

The speech, broadcast from an ex-hospital chapel which is available to all faiths as if to emphasise the point, was watched by 6.8 million out of a UK population off around 69 million people. For comparison Gavin and Stacey: The Finale was warched by 12.32 million and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl by 9.38 million.

In his 2024 message Charles said, "But, on this Christmas Day, we cannot help but think of those for whom the devastating effects of conflict – in the Middle East, in Central Europe, in Africa and elsewhere – pose a daily threat to so many people's lives and livelihoods."

King Charles went on to say "Diversity of culture, ethnicity and faith provides strength not weakness" but as commented on in Christian Today 'That is not self-evidently true'.

There is one faith/ideology that frequently appears in the news as the main source of conflict. Less frequent is the reporting of the deaths, kidnappings and other atrocities regularly perpetrated in Africa and elsewhere around the globe. According to Open Doors, three fifths of the countries listed suffer persecution as a result of this one ideology.

While the hand of friendship is extended to its adherants in the United Kingdom, blind eyes are turned to world events. Thousands of people who do not share our values continue to enter the UK seeking to replace our culture with theirs. 

As demonstrations in the UK are becoming more devisive it has become risky to comment on such matters for fear of attracting accusations of a hate crime. Free speech in Britain is at risk.

Christianity is being diluted in the name of diversity. Recently I read a report “Woke” MoD Bosses to Strip Cross From Military Cap Badge  as part of efforts to make the British Army chaplains department more diverse and multicultural. I wonder what Queen Elizabeth would have had to say about that.

The situation is becoming dire. We have a woke government and a woke church.

For full assessment by former Queen's Chaplain Gavin Ashenden watch King Charles Christmas Speech - A Declaration of Civil War. 

 A good New Year's resolution would be to pray for our increasingly dis-United Kingdom.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Postscript 03.01.2025

PRAYER ALERT: One-year-old killed as Nigerian Christians targeted at Christmas

Some reflections

Source: Evening Standard

For me, the expression on the Bishop of Durham's face said it all at the crowning moment. - Or was it the bishops' ill-fitting copes that troubled him?

Down, right a bit, up a bit, down a bit before the final inspection shown above in case further adjustments were needed. It has been calculated that the archbishop of Canterbury took 10 seconds to crown King Charles.

Queen Camilla looked almost petrified when it came to her turn before using a finger to poke her hair back under her crown. She looked frightened that the archbishop might stand on her feet to crown her.

Inevitably comparisons will  made with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The BBC has produced a video comparing both, side by side. 

Charles' coronation service was a cut down occasion designed to appeal to all faiths. Few will have given thought to the expression of Christian faith, going along as necessary.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council, Penny Mordaunt, attracted considerable praise as she stood holding the Sword of State but I was moved to laughter when someone was heard to ask why she was wearing an air-hostess uniform. 

I thought the mid-service construction of an Anointing Screen rather than the more traditional canopy looked particularly awkward. 

Also the 'Alleluia' sung by a gospel choir appeared designed specifically to make the liturgy an inclusive service.

Otherwise more traditional choral music enhanced the ceremony in all its glory. The coronation procession from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace was a masterpiece of synchronisation.

It was heartening to see Catholic involvement in the Coronation especially given the involvement of people of other faiths and none.

Pope Francis' coronation gift of relics from the True Cross were incorporated into the processional cross, the Cross of Wales, a centenary gift to the Church in Wales from King Charles. 

The wording on the reverse of the cross are the words of St David: "Byddwch lawen. Cadwch y ffydd. Gwnewch y Pethau Bychain," which means in English: "Be joyful. Keep the faith. Do the little things". 

Keeping the faith is precisely what the bishops of the Church in Wales have failed to do, the same path being trod by the majority of bishops in the Church of England but not the Rt Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham who continues to view marriage as "a union between a man and a woman". 

Lambeth Palace described the role played by a key element in the ceremony - the Queen's Ring - an octagonal mixed-cut ruby surrounded by 14 diamonds which bears the symbolism of a ring exchanged in marriage.

Some hope for the future.

Postscript [11.03.2023]

A lesson from the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis

"People respect us when we respect our traditions."

Coronation thoughts

Their Majesties King George VI, Queen  Elizabeth II and King Charles III.  Source: Wikimedia Commons

I remember the shock of hearing that King George VI had died. It was a time of great sadness. 

Along with Prime Minister Winston Churchill the king set an example of fortitude which did much to encourage those of us huddled around the wireless listening to the endless WW2 news broadcasts, so many in fact that I wondered how the BBC would fill the airtime after the war. 

My lasting memories of Queen Elizabeth's coronation are of the Westminster Abbey entrance procession to Parry's, I was glad, and of Queen Sālote of Tonga shunning the rain, smiling and waving to the crowds from her open carriage in a procession of carriages with tops firmly closed.

Charles III's coronation will be different. It has been scaled down. Security is a greater risk but the processional route is much shorter. 

It will be a multi-faith occasion. I understand the motives but, as I mentioned in my previous entry, I doubt the wisdom of including believers of different faiths and none in what is essentially a Christian service.

On a more positive note, Pope Francis will be represented inside the abbey this time. When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. the papal representative had to observe the ceremony from 'an especially-built stand outside Westminster Cathedral', because he was not allowed to enter a non-Catholic church.

Pope Francis has also sent a coronation gift, two shards of wood said to have come from the cross on which Christ was crucified. The shards have been incorporated in The Cross of Wales, a new processional cross presented by King Charles as a centenary gift to the Church in Wales.

An ironic choice since the bishops of the Church in Wales have abandoned the received faith of the Church in favour of secularism. 

The Pope's apparent obsession with taking the Catholic Church down the same path as the Anglican Church, deciding doctrine by committee, is not encouraging. He has only to look at the Church in Wales to see where that leads. Neither has the Church of England heeded the lesson, allowing revisionists to change Church beliefs for their own ends. 

They achieve this by introducing change gradually so that people become accustomed to it. It has happened in Church and State. A glaring example will be the crowning of Queen Camilla alongside King Charles. 

Much has changed since I heard of the death of King George VI. I can't imagine what the world will be like when Prince William is crowned, assuming the monarchy is not abolished.