King Charles meets Christian woman who fled Pakistan after suffering persecution due to her faith

Mrs Nevash was granted asylum in the UK earlier this year, having escaped persecution in Pakistan, where she suffered severe discrimination at school and college for her Christian faith.

Threats were made against her because of her campaign work for girls and women from religious minorities who are at disproportionate risk of sexual violence and forced conversion.

She has advocated on behalf of victims of the 2023 attack on Christians in Jaranwala, in Pakistan's Punjab province, where 25 churches were burnt down or desecrated in a single day.

The King shook Mrs Nevash's hand and engaged in conversation before she introduced her husband in a heartwarming moment.

Delivering her key message, Mrs Nevash said: "I need to do a lot of work for all the minorities around the world, to speak for them, I need to raise my voice."

Charles also heard from Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, who told the story of his friend Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran, Algeria.

The Bishop built bridges with the Muslim community before being assassinated at his residence in the 1990s.

Speaking to the congregation, the cardinal said: "All over the world, ploughshares are being beaten into swords, violence is escalating from knife crime to war, and today, traditionally, we remember especially those persecuted for their faith.

"The massive persecution of Christians in so many places, but believers of all faiths are being killed, often by members of other faiths.

"We see again the hideous rise of antisemitism, many of our Jewish brothers and sisters no longer feel safe.

He described how Bishop Claverie "was hated by extremists because he reached out to Muslims" and was urged to leave Algeria by his friends.

The Bishop chose to stay, saying: "No one could leave the bedside of a friend" and was "pulverised" along with another man by a blast, detonated when he returned home from a trip in August 1996.

The cardinal added: "When I arrived for the funeral three days later, there was a nun still collecting their remains with a spoon.

"Hundreds of Muslims came to his funeral. At the end, a young woman stood up and said that, although she was a Muslim, he was her bishop too.

"And then there was this murmuring filled the cathedral. I said: 'What did they say?' - there were hundreds of Muslims saying 'he was our bishop, he was our bishop too'.

"And today his tomb is covered with flowers brought by pilgrims, Christian and Muslim. This pointless violence flowered into friendship."

In a foreword to the official order of service, the King, who is a committed Anglican Christian, said: "It is a great joy to gather with you in the most glorious setting of Westminster Abbey as we celebrate the light, hope and, above all, the peace of this season of Advent.

"This period is one of preparation, of readying ourselves and looking forward to the wonder of Christ's birth."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter