ROME.- In a Christmas marked by the return to normality after two years of pandemicbut also, because of the atrocious invasion of Ukraine by Russia who turned the world upside down, in his traditional Christmas message “urbi et orbi”, to the city and the world, the pope Francisco today launched a strong call to “quiet the guns and put an immediate end to this senseless war.”
“If we want it to be Christmas, the Christmas of Jesus and of peace, let us contemplate Bethlehem and fix our gaze on the face of the Child who has been born to us. And in that little innocent countenance we recognize that of the children who yearn for peace in every corner of the world”, asked Francisco, speaking at Roman noon, 8 o’clock in Argentina, from the central balcony of the Basilica of San Pedro. “May our gaze be filled with the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are living this Christmas in the dark, out in the open or far from their homes, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war“, lament. At that moment some light blue and yellow Ukrainian flags were seen waving among the crowd of faithful present in Saint Peter’s Square.
In a message in which he usually reviews the geopolitical situation in the world and in which he used the word “peace” at least fifteen times, Francis also begged God to “dispose us to make concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering , and enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the guns and immediately put an end to this senseless war”.
In this context, he deplored the fact that “we prefer to listen to other reasons, dictated by the logic of the world.” “But the voice of the Child, who listens to it?”, he asked himself, before the thousands of people who listened to him in Saint Peter’s Square, decorated with an immense Christmas tree and a manger, on a day of radiant sun and not too cold.
To demonstrate, once again, its closeness to Ukraine, The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires sent Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajevski, his beggar, to kyiv this Christmaswho brought concrete help: thermal shirts and generators.
“Our time is experiencing a serious lack of peace also in other regions, in other scenarios of this third world war,” the Pope also warned in his message. And he mentioned Syria, “still tormented by a conflict that has faded into the background but has not ended”, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, that intensified in recent months with deaths and injuries. “Let us implore the Lord so that there, in the land where he was born, dialogue and the search for reciprocal trust between Israelis and Palestinians can be resumed,” asked Francis, who on the other hand demanded support for the Christian communities that live throughout the world. Middle East, so that ”in each of these countries the beauty of fraternal coexistence between people belonging to different faiths can be experienced”. In this sense, he especially mentioned Lebanon, so that it can finally recover, with the support of the international community and with the strength of brotherhood and solidarity. He also named the Sahel region, in Africa, “where the peaceful coexistence between peoples and traditions is disturbed due to clashes and violence”; His first trip next year will be precisely, at the end of January, to South Sudan, which is in this part of the world, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Francisco, who last December 17 fulfilled 86 yearsHe also prayed for God to guide a “lasting truce” in Yemen and towards reconciliation in Myanmar and Iran, “so that all bloodshed”.
Speaking of his continent, the American, He only mentioned Haiti. But he prayed that the “political authorities and all people of good will” strive to “pacify the political and social tensions that affect several countries. “I am thinking particularly of the Haitian people, who have been suffering for a long time,” he said.
He then mentioned all the people who suffer from hunger, “particularly children, while vast amounts of food are wasted every day and goods squandered in exchange for weapons”. And he again mentioned the war in Ukraine, which “has further aggravated the situation, leaving entire populations at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa.”
“All war—we know this—causes famine and uses food itself as a weapon, preventing its distribution to peoples who are already suffering.”, he stressed. “On this day, learning from the Prince of Peace, let us all commit ourselves – first of all, those who have political responsibilities – so that food is nothing more than an instrument of peace”, he requested.
“While we enjoy the joy of meeting our loved onesLet us think of the families that are most wounded by life, and of those that, in this time of economic crisis, have difficulties due to the lack of work and what is necessary to live”, he added.
Finally, he advocated for the poor and migrants, a priority of his pontificatewhich next March will be ten years. “Dear brothers and sisters, today as then, Jesus, the true light, comes to a world sick with indifference, which does not welcome him; what’s more, he rejects it, as he does to many foreigners; or he ignores it, as so often we do with the poor. Let us not forget today the many migrants and refugees who knock on our door in search of comfort, warmth and food. Let’s not forget about the marginalized, of the lonely, of the orphans and the elderly who are at risk of being discarded; of the prisoners that we look at only for their mistakes and not as human beings, ”he urged.
“Bethlehem shows us the simplicity of God, who does not reveal himself to the wise and learned, but to the little ones, to those who have a pure and open heart. Like the shepherds, let us also go without delay and let ourselves be amazed by the unthinkable event of God becoming a man for our salvation”, he invited. “He who is the source of all good makes himself poor and asks for our poor humanity as alms. Let us be moved by the love of God and follow Jesus, who stripped himself of his glory to make us partakers of his fullness”, he encouraged. And he concluded by wishing: “Merry Christmas to all!”