Thousands of people gathered this Sunday in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to see Pope Francis deliver his Christmas message. This was partly devoted to Ukraine at war.
The spiritual leader of the Catholic Church addressed the faithful from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he traditionally gives an overview of the conflicts in the world, before pronouncing the blessing “Urbi et Orbi », « to the city and to the world ».
The Ukrainian conflict as the framework of his speech
During this speech broadcast live around the world, the pope dwelt on the conflict in Ukraine, for the first Christmas since the invasion of the country by Moscow in February. If the Argentinian Jesuit tirelessly pleads for peace, he has also tried to maintain a delicate dialogue with Moscow, the Russian capital, which has earned him some criticism for not having taken a more clear position against the policy of President Vladimir Putin.
“May our gaze be filled with the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are living this Christmas in the dark, in the cold or far from home, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war”, declared François this Sunday in front of worshipers, some of whom waved Ukrainian flags.
“May the Lord make us ready for concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who suffer and enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the guns and put an immediate end to this senseless war!” ” he added.
Food should only be “an instrument of peace”
He also questioned the use of food as a weapon in the conflict. “Any war causes hunger and uses food itself as a weapon, preventing its distribution to populations who are already suffering”, he denounced, inviting people to commit themselves “so that food is only an instrument of peace. »
On Saturday evening, 7,000 people attended the traditional Christmas Eve Mass presided over by the Pope in St. Peter’s Basilica, according to the Vatican. The 86-year-old Catholic leader, who still suffers from knee pain, prayed for “children devoured by wars, poverty and injustice”, lamenting that “men greedy for power and money, consume their loved ones , their brothers.
Faced with “consumerism”, the pontiff invited us to “leave the heat of worldliness” and “rediscover the meaning of Christmas”, pleading for a charitable Church at the service of the poor. As 1.3 billion Catholics celebrate the birth of Christ, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski traveled to Ukraine to spend Christmas alongside war-affected populations.