Pope Francis on Wednesday offered a Christmas message of hope against darkness that cloaks conflicts and relationships in large parts of the world, from the Middle East to the Americas and Africa.
The pope told tens of thousands of tourists, pilgrims and Romans gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the annual Christmas Day message that “the light of Christ is greater” than the darkness “in human hearts” and “in economic, geopolitical and ecological conflicts.”
The traditional Urbi et Orbi (“To the city and to the world”) Christmas message has become an occasion for popes to address suffering in the world and press for solutions.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Francis was flanked by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Apostolic Almoner.
The pope cited the Syrian people “who still see no end to the hostilities that have rent their country over the last decade,” as well as Israel, where Jesus “was born as the savior of mankind and where so many people — struggling, but not discouraged — still await a time of peace, security and prosperity.”
Francis also called for an easing of the crisis in Lebanon, social tensions in Iraq and “a grave humanitarian crisis” in Yemen.
He said that a number of nations in the Americas “are experiencing a time of social and political upheaval,” citing “the beloved Venezuelan people, long tried by their political and social tensions.”
The pope also noted migrants forced by injustice “to emigrate in the hope of a secure life.”
Instead of finding acceptance, Francis said that injustice continues along their journey, where they often face abuse, enslavement and torture in “inhumane detention camps,” and death during dangerous sea and desert crossings.
Once migrants arrive in “places where they might have hoped for a dignified life,” they “instead find themselves before walls of indifference,” he said.
The pope offered prayers of hope for the people of Africa, including the Congolese “torn by continuing conflicts” and the people of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, where people have been “persecuted for their religious faith.”
In an extraordinary message, Francis along with two other religious leaders urged the rival leaders of South Sudan to maintain a pledge to form a coalition government early next year.
A peace deal to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people was signed last year, but a deadline last month to form a coalition government was extended to February, as key aspects of the peace deal still need to be resolved.
The message, issued separately from the traditional papal Christmas address, was signed by the leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and the Reverend John Chalmers, former moderator of the Church of Scotland.
The religious leaders offered assurances “of our spiritual closeness as you strive for a swift implementation” of peace agreements and prayers “for a renewed commitment to the path of reconciliation and fraternity.”
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