Francis offers his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing for some 70,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican
Before the approximately 70,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis this Sunday offered his customary Christmas message from the central balcony of the Vatican Basilica before handing over his Urbi et Orbi blessing, granting people a full indulgence (sorry for sins) who listened to him. In his speech, one of the most interesting moments for Catholics during the year, he discussed some of the major issues facing the world today, such as the war in Ukraine. “May our gaze be filled with the faces of the Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who live this Christmas in the dark, in the open or far from their homes, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war,” the pope said as some believers waved Ukrainian flags in St. Peter’s Square.
He also called for peace for Syria, the Holy Land, Lebanon, Yemen, Myanmar and the Sahel, and called for an end to the “bloodshed” taking place in Iran with the protests against the dictatorship of the ayatollahs. There are several “scenarios” in which this “Third World War” is fought piecemeal, which Francis had spoken about so many times, denouncing the “pain” caused by the “icy winds of war that continue to blow over humanity “. Although not in a war situation, the countries of the American continent were also present in the Christmas speech, whose political authorities “must strive to calm political and social tensions.” The pope clarified that he was referring in particular to Haiti, which has suffered “for a long time” from ongoing crises and environmental disasters.
Faced with these situations, he urged Catholics to “make concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering” while asking God to “enlighten the spirits of those who have the power to silence their arms.” and put an immediate end to this senseless war.” ». Unfortunately, he complained, it is preferable to “listen to other reasons, dictated by the logic of the world” in the face of the “lack of peace” that exists in much of our planet.
The accelerated food crisis in Afghanistan and several African countries due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine was also present in the Pope’s Christmas message. He recalled all the people who go hungry, “especially children”, while in other places “large amounts of food” are wasted while “goods are wasted in exchange for weapons”. “Every war causes famine and uses food itself as a weapon, preventing it from being distributed to peoples who are already suffering,” said Bergoglio, who urged not to use food as an “instrument of war”.
As he did the day before in his sermon at the Midnight Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, the pope took advantage of his address to invite the faithful to give these festivities greater significance than exacerbated consumerism. He first denounced the “ballasts” which are “the attachment to power and money, arrogance, hypocrisy, lies”, which “exclude from the grace of Christmas and close access to the path of peace”. He later criticized the “ugly disease” that is indifference to which the world is “sick”. This is clearly reflected in the rejection of foreigners and the poor.
Let us not forget today the many migrants and refugees who come to us in search of comfort, warmth and food. Let’s not forget the marginalized, the lonely, the orphans and the elderly, the wisdom of a people at risk of being thrown out,” said the pope, who had words of remembrance for the prisoners, who “We are only looking for their mistakes and not as human beings.” He also did not forget about the families who are “hurt by life”, especially those who, in this time of economic crisis, are having difficulties due to the lack of work and what is necessary to live.
Source: La Verdad
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