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Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas Wednesday’s message called on “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of weapons and overcome the divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.
The Pope’s address to “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and the World” — serves as a summary of the troubles facing the world this year. Since Christmas coincided with the beginning of the celebration of the Holy Year 2025, which he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, “even (with) our enemies.”
“I call upon every individual, and all people of all nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of weapons and overcome divisions,” the pope told the crowd below from the box of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve for the beginning of the Jubilee 2025, as a symbol of God’s mercy, which “unties every knot; breaks down every wall of division; dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.”
He called for a ceasefire in war-torn Ukraine and the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, “especially in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely difficult,” as well as Lebanon and Syria “at this most delicate time.”
Francis repeated his calls for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas from Israel on October 7, 2023.
He cited the deadly measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the suffering of people in Myanmar, who were forced to flee their homes due to “ongoing armed conflict.” The Pope also remembered the children who suffer from war and hunger, the elderly who live in solitude, those who flee their homeland, who lost their jobs and were persecuted for their faith.
Pilgrims lined up on Christmas Day to pass through the great Holy Door at the entrance to St Peter’s Basilica, as the jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholics to Rome.
Passing through the Holy Gate is one of the ways in which the faithful can receive indulgences or remissions of sins during the Jubilee, a tradition held every quarter of a century that dates back to the 1300s.
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Pilgrims are subject to security checks before entering the Holy Door, amid fresh security fears following a deadly attack on a Christmas market in Germany. Many people stopped to touch the door and cross themselves when entering the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.
“You feel so humbled when you walk through the door that after you walk through it’s almost like a release, a release of emotion,” said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. “… It’s almost like a release of emotions, you feel like you are now able to let go and put everything in God’s hands. You can see I’m getting emotional. It’s just a wonderful experience.”
Christmas miracle because Hanukkah and Christmas coincide
Hanukkah, the Jewish eight-day festival of lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has happened only four times since 1900.
The calendar merger has inspired some religious leaders to organize interfaith gatherings, such as a Hanukkah party held last week by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, bringing together members of the city’s Hispanic and Jewish communities for latkes, a traditional potato pancake eaten on Hanukkah, topped with guacamole and salsa.
While Hanukkah is meant to be an upbeat, celebratory holiday, the rabbis note that it is being held this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears grow over widespread incidents of anti-Semitism. The holidays rarely overlap because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not aligned with the Gregorian calendar, which puts Christmas on December 25. The last time Hanukkah started was Christmas in 2005.
Iraqi Christians persist in their faith
Christians in the Nineveh Plains attended Christmas Mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georgis Church in the center of Telaskaf, Iraq, worried about security for the future. “We feel that the rug will be pulled out from under our feet at any moment. Here, our fate is unknown,” said Bayda Nadhim, a resident of Telaskaf.
Iraqi Christians, whose presence there dates back almost to the time of Christ, belong to a number of rites and denominations. They once constituted a significant minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.
But the community has steadily shrunk since the US-led invasion in 2003 and continued in 2014 when the Islamic State militant group rampaged through the area. The exact number of Christians who remained in Iraq is not clear, but it is believed to number several hundred thousand.
German celebration dampened by market onslaught
Germany’s celebrations were overshadowed by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that killed five people, including a 9-year-old boy, and injured 200. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas speech to address the attack, saying “there is sadness, pain, horror and misunderstanding about what happened in Magdeburg”. He urged Germans to “stick together” and that “hatred and violence must not have the last word.”
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had been practicing medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim and is full of anti-Islamic themes. He criticized the authorities for failing to fight the “Islamization of Germany” and expressed support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Barry called from Milan. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Rashid Yehya in Teleskaf in Iraq and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
