THE Prince of Wales has described the extent to which young people are becoming radicalised as “alarming” and one of the “greatest worries”.
In an interview with Radio 2’s The Sunday Hour, Prince Charles spoke of his hopes to “build bridges” between different faiths.
He also spoke of his “deep concern” for the suffering of Christian churches in the Middle East.
He is currently in Jordan on a six-day tour of the region.
The prince arrived in the capital Amman on Saturday night and is due to hold talks with King Abdullah II later.
The Radio 2 programme covers visits by the prince to Armenian, Roman Catholic Chaldean and Syrian Orthodox churches in the UK, and contains accounts from members of these denominations who have had to flee persecution in Syria and Iraq.
On the radicalisation of young people, Prince Charles says: “Well of course, this is one of the greatest worries I think, and the extent to which this is happening is the alarming part.
“And particularly in a country like ours where you know the values we hold dear.
“You think that the people who have come here, [are] born here, go to school here, would abide by those values and outlooks.”
He told the BBC programme he believed part of the reason some young people are radicalised is a “search for adventure and excitement at a particular age”.
The prince also discussed the work of his charity The Prince’s Trust in combating radicalisation.
He said: “What I have been trying to do all these years with the Prince’s Trust is to find alternatives for adolescents and people at a young age, for constructive paths for them to channel their enthusiasm, their energy, that sense of wanting to take risks and adventure and aggression and all these things.
“But you have to channel them into constructive paths.”
He suggested that when he becomes king, he may still be sworn in as Defender of the (Christian) Faith. There had been speculation that the title could be changed to encompass all faiths.
However, he said he believed an important part of the role was to be a “protector of faiths”, defending every religion in multicultural Britain.
During the interview, the prince also considered how different communities could live alongside each other.
He told the programme: “I think the secret is that we have to work harder to build bridges and we have to remember that our Lord taught us to love our neighbour, to do to others as you would do to you and just to go on despite the setbacks and despite the discouragement to try and build bridges and to show justice and kindness to people.”
