The true significance of the Pope gifting relic of Cross to King Charles

National Post, 23 April 2023

Pope Francis' gift was made not to honour a king, but as an ecumenical gesture of goodwill to Charles as supreme moderator of the Church of England

Pope Francis has given King Charles III small relics of the True Cross as a gift for his coronation. The tiny fragments are venerated as part of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, which Queen Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, discovered in Jerusalem in the fourth century. Such relics are venerated in important churches throughout the world.

The King was sufficiently moved that the relics have been embedded in a processional cross, made in the Welsh style, that will lead the procession into Westminster Abbey for his coronation. To those with the eyes of faith to see, which certainly includes the King, the relics of the cross will be the most valuable items present, including the splendour of the Crown jewels.

A BBC story informed readers that “the new cross is a reminder that, alongside the pomp and pageantry, the coronation on 6 May will be a religious ceremony.”

That’s like saying that alongside the floral arrangements, a wedding will take place. The coronation is a religious ceremony, to which is attached the pomp and pageantry of state. The two are intertwined, which is not without problems, but has important lessons for those who rule over us.

One hopes that our prime minister will manage to attend without causing a scene, as he did at the late Queen’s funeral. Meanwhile, as shabby behaviour goes, his government stuffed into its budget bill a change to the Canadian title of King Charles III. He will no longer be known in Canada as “Defender of the Faith,” a title first bestowed on Henry VIII by the pope and, after Henry’s breach with Rome, conferred anew by the British Parliament.

An argument can certainly be had about the relative merits of that title — both in the 16th century and now. Yet given that the Crown is at the heart of our Canadian Constitution, such an alteration of the sovereign’s title deserves a standalone bill in Parliament, with MPs and senators having the right to give their views. Jamming it into the back of a bill that lays out schedules for transfer payments is insulting to our system of Crown-in-Parliament and responsible government.

It matters that a religious ritual lies at the heart of one of the world’s most successful political arrangements, the Westminster system of constitutional monarchy. We ought, leading up to the coronation of a new king, attempt to understand why it matters, and why coronations are instructive about the proper place of political power.

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