The recording followed months of negotiations between the BBC and the Vatican God is faithful to his promises but often surprises us by how he fulfils them, the Pope is due to say in a BBC broadcast.
Pope Benedict’s Christmas message for the UK will be broadcast as Thought For The Day on the Today programme on Radio 4.
The child born in Bethlehem brought liberation – but not by military or political means, he will say.
In his message, he says he recalls his recent UK visit with “great fondness”.
“I keep all of you very much in my prayers during this Holy Season,” he adds.
It is the first time that the Pontiff has addressed a Christmas message especially for one of the countries he has visited during the year.
Listeners will hear him say: “I am glad to have the opportunity to greet you again, and indeed to greet listeners everywhere as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.”
He goes on: “I pray for your families, for your children, for those who are sick, and for those who are going through any form of hardship at this time.”
At the Christmas season, says Pope Benedict, our thoughts recall a moment in history when the Israelites were waiting for the Messiah whom they pictured as a great leader who would restore their freedom.
But, he adds, the child who was born in Bethlehem would be the Saviour of all people throughout the world since he destroyed death by his own shameful death on the Cross.
Negotiations between the BBC and the Vatican went on for many months to enable the recording to take place.
Thought For The Day is broadcast within the Today programme at around 0745, from Monday to Saturday.
Since 1970, it has offered approximately three minutes of personal reflection from faith leaders and believers of a variety of religious denominations.
Gwyneth Williams, the controller of BBC Radio 4, has said she is “delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience”.
However, the decision has been criticised by the UK’s atheist National Secular Society (NSS).
“After the overkill from the BBC during the Pope’s visit, this indicates the corporation’s obsession with religion, whereas the nation is largely indifferent to it,” commented its president, Terry Sanderson.
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