Pope Francis, in his Christmas message, called for silencing weapons in global wars

Published at: 25/12/2024 03:46 PM

Pope Francis pronounced his Urbi et Orbi blessing this Wednesday, December 25, in St. Peter's Vatican Square, and a Christmas message in which he demanded that weapons be kept quiet in world wars, the Prensa Latina website reported.

In his words to thousands of faithful and pilgrims, the Supreme Pontiff asked that in order to put an end to the war on Ukrainian soil, “we must have the audacity to open the door to negotiations and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, to reach a just and lasting peace”.

He referred to the complex situation in the Middle East and said that his thoughts are addressed “in particular to the community of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely serious”, because of the Israeli attacks, which have already caused some 44,000 deaths, and called for “the release of the hostages and the help of the population exhausted by hunger and war”.

“I also have in my heart the Christian community of Lebanon, especially in the south, and that of Syria, at this delicate moment,” he said, insisting that “the doors of dialogue and peace be opened throughout the region, lacerated by the conflict.”

He urged political authorities and all people of good will in the American continent to find “effective solutions in truth and justice”, and thus promote social harmony in this Jubilee Year, “to build the common good and rediscover the dignity of each person, overcoming political divisions”.

He also referred to the critical situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where thousands of children are dying as a result of the measles epidemic, as well as to the problems faced by the populations of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique, who are facing a humanitarian crisis.

He also mentioned the peoples of the countries of the Horn of Africa “for whom I implore the gifts of peace, harmony and fraternity”, and the need to fulfill the commitment of the international community to humanitarian aid to the people of Sudan and the impetus to negotiations for a ceasefire.

“May the Christmas announcement bring comfort to the inhabitants of Myanmar, who, because of continuous armed clashes, suffer great suffering and are forced to flee their homes,” he added.

At the Christmas Eve mass, pronounced the day before the opening of the Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which marked the beginning of the Jubilee 2025 of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis asked that “we think about wars, about children being machine-gunned, about bombs against schools and hospitals”.

The Pontiff urged us to “translate hope into the situations of our lives”, and to “be indignant at the things that are wrong and have the courage to change them”, as “pilgrims in search of the truth” to transform a world disfigured by the logic of profit, plagued by poverty, slavery and conflict.

Mazo News Team