Charles III, 74, son of Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, became king of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth on September 8, 2022, after the death of his mother.
His coronation on May 6 in Westminster Abbey in London came according to a tradition followed since William the Conqueror in 1066; in a ceremony attended by about 2,000 guests, including kings, presidents and dignitaries, opening a new page in the history of the royal family, which receives its new ruler for the first time since 1952.
This coronation took place during a solemn religious ceremony, where the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the crown on King Charles' head; Shortly before this, the King had sworn to serve his people and to protect the Church of England, of which he is the supreme head; and then saluted the masses from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a huge military parade.
I followed the coronation procedures on international TV channels, and I saw in the British officials and ordinary people, who flocked to the place of coronation or those who were in public places, an endless pride in being British, and of the church heritage and religious traditions that Royal Britain is keen to follow.
Britain is the only democracy to hold such an overtly Christian ceremony at the king's coronation, where he pledges to do "the laws of God". The current procedures and relationship between the king and the church dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries, when Anglicanism arose as one of the major branches of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation and a form of Christianity that includes features of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism..
Anglican churches were established in other parts of the world. These churches consider the Church of England to be a mother church, and it maintains a leading role in the Anglican Communion.
The coronation took place in a religious ceremony that sanctifies the new king, who bears the titles "Defender of the Faith" and "Supreme Governor of the Church of England", and among his duties is to appoint new priests to the Church of England as well as bishops and senior bishops.
I respond to many colleagues and writers who, since the 1930s, believe that the absence of political openness in many countries of the world in Latin America, Africa, and the Arab world is due to the fact that the laws and constitutions of those countries refer to the religion they follow, and that the ruler of the country is the protector of religious sanctities.
It all proved wrong; the explanatory factors are political factors only. It is not wrong for people to be proud of their religious sanctities, their heritage and traditions around which they gather. Britain, as the oldest democracy in the world, gives lessons through this quality of coronation to the whole world.
Contributed by: Taarek Refaat
Follow the latest news on Google News
