Charles coronation: debut role for minority faiths, languages

Jitendra Joshi, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Tourists walk along the Mall in London, Britain, 25 April 2023. London is preparing for King Charles III" s="" Coronation="" at="" Westminster="" Abbey="" on="" May.="" Andy="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/04/30/london.jpg"/><figcaption>Tourists walk along the Mall in London, Britain, 25 April 2023. London is preparing for King Charles III&#x27;s Coronation at Westminster Abbey on 06 May.<em> Andy Rain, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LONDON — The UK&#x27;s non-Christian faiths and its Celtic languages will play a prominent role for the first time in a royal coronation when King Charles III is crowned next week, organisers said on Saturday.</p><p>The May 6 service at Westminster Abbey will be overwhelmingly drawn from the Christian liturgy as Charles takes an oath, in English, to serve as &quot;Defender of the (Protestant) Faith&quot; and to protect the established Church of England.</p><p>But in a first, it will also feature a prominent role for Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish leaders, according to the order of service released by the office of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.</p><p>At the end of the coronation, they will deliver a greeting in unison to Charles declaring that &quot;as neighbours in faith, we acknowledge the value of public service&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We unite with people of all faiths and beliefs in thanksgiving, and in service with you for the common good,&quot; they will say.</p><p>Members of the House of Lords from the minority faiths will hand non-Christian regalia to the king, such as gold bracelets and the royal robe.</p><p>Rishi Sunak, Britain&#x27;s first Hindu prime minister, will give a reading from the Bible at the service, which will also be attended by Scotland&#x27;s First Minister Humza Yousaf, the first Muslim to hold the post and to lead a Western European government.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/28/23/dfa-marcos-in-charles-iii-coronation-to-add-goodwill-between-ph-uk">DFA: Marcos in King Charles III coronation to &#x27;add goodwill&#x27; between PH, UK</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/04/23/23/king-charles-iiis-coronation-a-guide">King Charles III&#x27;s coronation: a guide</a></li></ul><div><strong>Nightly prayer</strong></div><p>Charles is a committed Christian and, according to the memoir &quot;Spare&quot; by his younger son Prince Harry, prays every night.</p><p>But the king also has a lifelong interest in other religions, and has spoken in the past about defending all faiths, not just Anglicanism, as Britain grew more multi-cultural.</p><p>Before his mother Queen Elizabeth II&#x27;s state funeral in September last year, he held a reception at Buckingham Palace for faith leaders, and described himself as a &quot;committed Anglican Christian&quot;.</p><p>But he recognised that the country he inherited is very different from the one his mother did 70 years previously.</p><p>&quot;I have always thought of Britain as a &#x27;community of communities&#x27;,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That has led me to understand that the sovereign has an additional duty... to protect the diversity of our country, including by protecting the space for faith itself.&quot;</p><p>In another coronation first, Charles will pray aloud during the service, to ask God that &quot;I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction&quot;.</p><p>He will also receive blessings from other Christian leaders, including from the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Scottish Free Church denominations.</p><p>A Greek choir will sing as a tribute to his late father, Prince Philip, who was born on the island of Corfu. A Gospel choir will also perform.</p><div><strong>Four tongues</strong></div><p>Diversity in the coronation service will extend to a role for the English-speaking UK&#x27;s other native languages: Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.</p><p>As heir, Charles was the first Prince of Wales in seven centuries to learn Welsh, which today counts nearly 540,000 speakers.</p><p>During the coronation, after a greeting and introduction by Welby, a prayer will be sung in Welsh. After the archbishop&#x27;s sermon, verses of a hymn will be sung in all three minority languages.</p><p>&quot;The coronation is first and foremost an act of Christian worship,&quot; said Welby, who leads the worldwide Anglican communion.</p><p>&quot;At the same time, the service contains new elements that reflect the diversity of our contemporary society.</p><p>&quot;I am delighted that the service will recognise and celebrate tradition, speaking to the great history of our nation, our customs, and those who came before us.&quot;</p><p>In the 2021 census, some 27.5 million people, or 46.2 percent in England and Wales, described themselves as Christian, down 13.1 percentage points from 2011.</p><p>Those listing &quot;no religion&quot; rose by 12 points to 37.2 percent while Muslims stood at 3.9 million or 6.5 percent of the population, up from 4.9 percent.</p><p>The next most common responses were Hindu (1.0 million) and Sikh (524,000), while Buddhists overtook Jewish people (273,000 and 271,000 respectively).</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AWdgbr26kR0?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The UK's non-Christian faiths and its Celtic languages will play a prominent role for the first time in a royal coronation when King Charles III is crowned next week.

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Charles coronation: debut role for minority faiths, languages

Charles coronation: debut role for minority faiths, languages

Jitendra Joshi,

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 30, 2023 08:00 AM PHT

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Updated May 04, 2023 08:40 PM PHT

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King Charles III

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