Tens of 1000’s crowded into St. Peter’s Square to hearken to the Pope’s conventional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “‘to the city and to the world”) speech.
ROME, Metropolitan City of Rome — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for a direct finish to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old battle he decried as “senseless.”
At midday native time, Francis delivered the standard “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “‘to the city and to the world”) speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Tens of 1000’s of vacationers, pilgrims and residents of Rome crowded into St. Peter’s Square to hearken to the pontiff and to obtain his blessing.
Francis additionally cited long-running conflicts within the Middle East, together with in the Holy Land, “where in recent months violence and confrontations have increased, bringing death and injury in their wake.” In addition, he prayed for an enduring truce in Yemen and for reconciliation in Iran and Myanmar.
He lamented that on Christmas, the “path of peace” is blocked by social forces that embody “attachment to power and money, pride, hypocrisy, falsehood.”
“Indeed, we should acknowledge with sorrow that, even because the Prince of Peace is given to us, the icy winds of war proceed to buffet humanity,” Francis stated.
“If we want it to be Christmas, the birth of Jesus and of peace, let us look to Bethlehem and contemplate the face of the child who is born for us,” he said. ”And in that small and harmless face, allow us to see the faces of all these youngsters who, in every single place on this planet, lengthy for peace.”
Francis urged the trustworthy to recollect the thousands and thousands of Ukrainians who have been with out electrical energy or heating Sunday as a result of of Russian assaults on power infrastructure, in addition to the thousands and thousands extra residing as refugees overseas or displaced inside their nation for the reason that Feb. 24 invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Let us also see the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes due to the devastation caused by 10 months of war,” the pontiff stated.
The pope prayed that the Lord will “enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!”
“On this day, as we sit around a well-spread table, may we not avert our gaze from Bethlehem, a town whose name means ‘house of bread,’ but think of all those, especially the children, who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons.”
“The war in Ukraine has additional aggravated this example, placing total peoples in danger of famine, particularly in Afghanistan and within the international locations of the Horn of Africa,” Francis stated.
Early in the way in which, sea mines and a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s ports choked off shipments from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest producers of grain and corn. An settlement brokered by Turkey and the U.N.has sought to address the issue.
Gianfranco Stara contributed from Vatican City.
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