The Holy Land was very present in the message that Pope Francis addressed to the whole world before the Urbi et Orbi blessing that he gave from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, on a cold and somewhat cloudy morning in Rome, but that did not prevent hundreds of people from approaching the heart of the Vatican to accompany the Pope on Christmas Day.
The Pope began by recalling that "there, where in these days pain and silence reign, resounded the announcement awaited for centuries". An announcement that "fills us with confidence and hope to know that the Lord was born for us".
The Pope, following the line of the homily of the Christmas Eve MassHe recalled that the incarnation of Christ means that "we human beings, with our limitations, embrace the certainty of an unprecedented hope, that of having been born for heaven.
The Pope focused his message on peace. In that peace that does not seem to accompany the life of Christ, not even at his birth. The Pontiff recalled that many children do not have a peaceful life even at birth: "How many innocent people are killed in the world: in the womb, on the roads of the desperate in search of hope, in the lives of so many children whose childhood is devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today," the Holy Father emphasized.
Francis compared our times to the situation in Bethlehem where Jesus was born: "Today, as in the time of Herod, the intrigues of evil, which oppose the divine light, move in the shadow of hypocrisy and concealment. How many massacres due to weapons take place in deafening silence, hidden from everyone's view".
But the hope of peace is more relevant today than ever, the Pope stressed: "Christ was born for you! Rejoice, you who have abandoned hope, because God holds out his hand to you; he does not point his finger at you, but offers you his little childlike hand to free you from your fears, to relieve you of your fatigue and to show you that you are precious in his eyes".
Peace petition from the Holy Land to America
Particularly important was the Pope's request for peace for the whole world. Francis asked that peace, from the Prince of Peace, "may come to Israel and Palestine, where war is shaking the lives of these populations; I embrace both, in particular the Christian communities of Gaza and the entire Holy Land".
The Pope renewed "an urgent appeal for the release of those who are still being held hostage. I plead for an end to the military operations, with their dramatic consequences of innocent civilian casualties, and for the desperate humanitarian situation to be remedied by allowing aid to arrive. That violence and hatred no longer be fueled, but that a solution to the Palestinian question be found through sincere and persevering dialogue between the parties, sustained by strong political will and the support of the international community".
In addition to Israel and Palestine, the Pope's thoughts turned to other conflicts, less present in the media, such as "the martyred Syria, as well as Yemen, which continues to suffer. I am thinking of the beloved Lebanese people and I pray that they may soon recover political and social stability.
With my eyes fixed on the Child Jesus, I implore peace for Ukraine. Let us renew our spiritual and human closeness to his martyred people, so that through the support of each one of us we may feel God's love in the concrete.
May the day of definitive peace between Armenia y Azerbaijan. That the pursuit of humanitarian initiatives, the safe and legal return of displaced persons to their homes, and mutual respect for the religious traditions and places of worship of each community be encouraged.
Let us not forget the tensions and conflicts that trouble the regions of the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Sudan, as well as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
May the day come when fraternal ties are consolidated on the Korean peninsula, opening avenues for dialogue and reconciliation that can create the conditions for lasting peace."
The pontiff's continent of origin was also present in this appeal for peace. The Pope asked for the American continent to "find suitable solutions to overcome social and political dissensions, to fight against forms of poverty that offend the dignity of people, to resolve inequalities and to confront the painful phenomenon of migration".
Francis attacked "the interests and profits that pull the strings of wars" such as the buying and selling of armaments and mercantilist interests.
