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King Charles has used his Christmas message to call on people to imagine themselves in the “shoes of our neighbours” at a time of “increasingly tragic conflict around the world”.
In the speech delivered on Monday afternoon, amid the bloody wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the King said people should “love our neighbour as ourselves”.
The King – a committed environmentalist – also said it was the duty of people “all faiths” to protect the planet.
In his second Christmas message since ascending to the throne, the King said: “At a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world, I pray that we can also do all in our power to protect each other.
“The words of Jesus seem more than ever relevant: ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’
“Such values are universal, drawing together our Abrahamic family of religions, and other belief systems, across the Commonwealth and wider world.
“They remind us to imagine ourselves in the shoes of our neighbours, and to seek their good as we would our own.”
It came following reports Egypt has put forward a plan to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government.
Israeli airstrikes have been heavily pounding central and southern Gaza, crushing buildings on families sheltering inside.
In the Maghazi refugee camp, rescue workers pulled dozens more bodies from the wreckage hours after a strike levelled a three-story building and shattered others nearby.
On the environment, the King said: “Service to others is but one way of honouring the whole of creation which, after all, is a manifestation of the divine. This is a belief shared by all religions.
“To care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none. We care for the Earth for the sake of our children’s children.
“During my lifetime I have been so pleased to see a growing awareness of how we must protect the Earth and our natural world as the one home which we all share.”
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