"Normally at
Christmas, we think of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Prince Charles said in a Christmas message broadcast on BBC Radio 4
Thursday. "I wonder, though, if this year we might remember how
the story of the Nativity unfolds, with the fleeing of the Holy
Family to escape violent persecution. And we might also remember that
when the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina, he did so
because he, too, was seeking the freedom for himself and his
followers to worship." The heir to the British throne and the
eventual Defender of the Faith continued: "Whichever religious
path we follow, the destination is the same -- to value and respect
the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful
response to the love of God.
"That’s what
I saw when attending the consecration of the Syriac Orthodox
Cathedral in London recently. Here were a people persecuted for their
religion in their own country, but finding refuge in another land and
freedom to practice their faith according to their conscience. It is
an example to inspire us all this Christmastime." Earlier in his
message, Charles talked about the persecution of Christians and other
religious minorities in the Middle East -- at the hands of radical
Islamists, although he did not specifically say that. Charles talked
about meeting a Jesuit priest from Syria, who gave him a "graphic
account" of what like is like for Christians there. "He
told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he
feared that Christians will be driven en masse out of lands described
in the Bible. He thought it quite possible there will be no
Christians in Iraq within five years."
Charles said the
"scale of religious persecution around the world is not widely
appreciated." And it's not limited to Christians, he added,
mentioning the escalating attacks on Yazidis, Jews, Ahmadis, Baha’is
and other minority faiths. The result of religious persecution is the
refugee crisis: Charles noted that persecution prompted another 5.8
million people to flee their homes in 2015. "And the suffering
doesn’t end when they arrive, seeking refuge in a foreign land. We
are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that
are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority
faith."
Without naming those
groups, Charles called their rise "deeply disturbing" and a
throwback to "the dark days of the 1930s." -- "I was
born in 1948 – just after the end of World War II in which my
parents' generation had fought, and died, in a battle against
intolerance, monstrous extremism and an inhuman attempt to
exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. "That nearly
seventy years later we should still be seeing such evil persecution
is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and
died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past."
Complete text: HRH
The Prince of Wales presents 'Thought for the Day' on BBC Radio 4
CNS News: Prince
Charles Mentions Muslims, Religious Persecution, 'Populist Groups' in
His Christmas Message
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/s…
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