During his annual Christmas speech, King Willem-Alexander paid extensive attention to children, education and the world they will inherit on Thursday afternoon. Unlike the Speech from the Throne, the Christmas speech is a personal message from the king. This year Willem-Alexander gave his Christmas speech for the thirteenth time.
The king referred to the Christmas story in which Jesus comes to bring peace “not as a superhero,” but “as a newborn child in an ‘ordinary’ carpenter’s family.” According to the king, the Christmas story continues to touch people because of its proximity and recognisability. “The Christmas story connects the smallest with the largest,” he said.
He also reflected on the 160,000 children born annually in the Netherlands. As a parent you want the very best for your own child, he said, but at the same time “you realize that their future is inextricably linked to that of all the other children.”
The king wondered whether it would be possible to actually pass on the world in a better way to future generations. “Will we succeed? It is certainly not easy,” he said. He referred to his inauguration twelve years ago, when he stated that it is less self-evident that children will be better off than their parents. “The international situation has certainly not improved since then.”
About the world “beyond the front door,” he wondered: “What kind of world do we want for our children?” In any case, not a world in which mistakes are punished harshly, or in which young people are judged on appearance, background, sexual orientation or performance, he said.
He also outlined societies that he would not wish for children: in which conflicts are intensified, freedom is lacking and in which pollution and climate change affect the living environment. In addition, he warned of “a world without freedom, in which dictators crow victory at the expense of democracy and justice” and in which people “have become slavish followers of all-powerful algorithms without a soul.”
According to the king, “a sense of community” is the “key”. According to him, it is important that children learn this from an early age. The king emphasized that anyone who has confidence in the future of a newborn child also believes that it is important to build a society that offers young people opportunities, perspective and understanding.
Christmas sermon Pope
Pope Leo also referred to the birth story of Jesus in a stable in his first Christmas sermon as pope, on Christmas Day. He criticized the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza, a subject that the king did not mention. The Christmas story shows that God has pitched “his fragile tent” among the peoples, the pope said. “How can we not think about the tents in Gaza, which have been exposed to rain, wind and cold for weeks?” he asked.
Leo was elected pope in May as successor to Pope Francis, who died at Easter.
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