Queen Elizabeth II (AFP)

Queen Elizabeth II urges to take care of society’s vulnerable

Queen Elizabeth II, in her 50th annual Christmas Day message to Britain and the Commonwealth, urged people to take responsibility for vulnerable individuals excluded by modern society, reports Jeremy Reynalds, correspondent for ASSIST News Service.

The broadcast Christmas speech is a tradition started by Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather king George V in 1932.

AFP News reported that the 81-year-old queen said the modern world could be a distant, hostile place where it was all too easy for people to turn a blind eye to outsiders.

The birth of Jesus Christ was a tale of a family “which had been shut out,” the queen said in the pre-recorded broadcast.

AFP said she added, “The Christmas story also draws attention to all those people who are on the edge of society -- people who feel cut off and disadvantaged; people who, for one reason or another, are not able to enjoy the full benefits of living in a civilized and law-abiding community.”

AFP said the queen continued, “For these people the modern world can seem a distant and hostile place. It is all too easy to �?turn a blind eye,’ �?to pass by on the other side,’ and leave it to experts and professionals. All the great religious teachings of the world press home the message that everyone has a responsibility to care for the vulnerable. Each one of us can also help by offering a little time, a talent or a possession, and taking a share in the responsibility for the well-being of those who feel excluded.”

The queen also talked about the changes she has seen in the 50 years since making her first televised Christmas message.

“One of the features of growing old is a heightened awareness of change,” AFP reported she said.

"To remember what happened 50 years ago means that it is possible to appreciate what has changed in the meantime. It also makes you aware of what has remained constant. In my experience, the positive value of a happy family is one of the factors of human existence that has not changed. The immediate family of grandparents, parents and children, together with their extended family, is still the core of a thriving community.”

AFP reported the queen also paid tribute to the armed forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hoped that people missing loved ones would find strength and comfort in their family and friends.

The queen ended her message by quoting from a traditional Christmas carol service.

“�?Because this would most rejoice his heart, let us remember, in his name, the poor and the helpless, the cold, the hungry, and the oppressed; the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and the unloved,’”AFP reported she said. “Wherever these words find you, and in whatever circumstances, I want to wish you all a blessed Christmas.”

AFP reported that this year's broadcast started and ended with black-and-white clips from the 1957 message. The queen wore an apricot outfit and the same three-stringed pearl necklace as then.

The queen also had her message posted for the first time on the video-sharing website YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=02ejDBYdyRY), in an attempt to reach out to younger audiences

A Christmas institution, the 10-minute broadcast is televised at 3:00 pm (1500 GMT) in Britain, as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch.

It is broadcast at convenient local times across the 53-nation Commonwealth, a successor to the British empire.

AFP reported that at Sandringham, the queen's private country estate in Norfolk, eastern England, members of the royal family were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers as they stepped out in the rain to attend a Christmas church service.

Afterwards, the queen collected bouquets of flowers from children outside the church. Wearing a beige overcoat and carrying a transparent umbrella, she smiled as she talked with well-wishers.

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[01/03/2008]

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