The King has spoken about the capabilities of humanity as he hailed love as an an important virtue across religions in a personal Easter message.
Charles said humanity is “capable of both great cruelty and great kindness” as he prepares to attend a Royal Maundy service in Durham Cathedral on Thursday.
“This paradox of human life runs through the Easter story and in the scenes that daily come before our eyes, at one moment, terrible images of human suffering and, in another, heroic acts in war-torn countries where humanitarians of every kind risk their own lives to protect the lives of others,” he said,
He added that he met “many such people” at a Buckingham Palace reception in February where he “felt a profound sense of admiration for their resilience, courage and compassion.”
In his message, the King also said Jesus’s actions were a “token of His love that knew no bounds or boundaries and is central to Christian belief”.
“The love he showed when he walked the Earth reflected the Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need, a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, and in the hearts of all who seek the good of others,” he went on.
“The abiding message of Easter is that God so loved the world, the whole world, that He sent His son to live among us to show us how to love one another, and to lay down His own life for others in a love that proved stronger than death.
“There are three virtues that the world still needs, faith, hope and love. ‘And the greatest of these is love’.”
On Thursday, he and the Queen are due to attend the Royal Maundy service, which commemorates Jesus’s Last Supper when he washed the feet of his disciples as an act of humility the day before Good Friday.
The ceremony is a major fixture on the royal calendar and normally the monarch, but he missed last year’s service after he announced his cancer diagnosis in February.
Charles will present 76 women and 76 men, signifying his age, with two purses, one red and one white, filled with Maundy money.
This year, the red purse will contain a £5 coin commemorating the Queen Mother and a 50p coin featuring stories of the Second World War.
