Message for Christmas 2025

Rt. Rev. Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury

The Summer of Flags and the Lights of Christmas

The national flags which suddenly appeared in communities across the country, were among the most unexpected events of 2025. In some of our most deprived communities the vast number of these flags was something I had never witnessed before.

The flags which lined so many streets and roadways, were emblazoned with the Cross of Christ and his saints reflecting the faith on which our society was built. For the deepest identity of our nation has never been rooted in crude nationalism, rather in all we have celebrated together at Christmas.

If we are in danger of forgetting what we nationally celebrate at both Christmas and Easter, then we are also in danger of losing the light which has guided our national story. For the very years of our lives are numbered from the birth of this one child in Bethlehem, “a saviour born for us.”

The Christmas lights, which at this moment of the year illuminate all our streets and roads, gently recall that sure light which has guided the best in our history. In these increasingly unstable and uncertain times, we will always find in the light of Christmas, our truest guide.