Pope Francis says world is starving for peace in Christmas message

Pope Francis says world is starving for peace in Christmas message

Pope Francis has called for an end to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts in his Christmas message, saying the world was suffering from a “famine of peace”.

Delivering his tenth Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message, he also urged people to look beyond the “shallow holiday glitter” and help the homeless, immigrants, refugees and the poor in their midst seeking comfort, warmth and food.

“Let us see the faces of all those children who, everywhere in the world, long for peace,” he said, speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

“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 ten months of war,” he said, speaking to tens of thousands of people gathered in the square below.

He spoke just hours after air raid sirens wailed across Ukraine and a day after Ukraine said a Russian strike on the recently-liberated city of Kherson killed at least ten people and wounded another 58 in what President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned as wanton killing for pleasure.

“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!” Pope Francis said.

The Ukraine conflict, he said, should not diminish concern for people whose lives have been devastated by other conflicts or humanitarian crises, naming among others, Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Haiti and the Sahel region of Africa.

“Our time is experiencing a grave famine of peace…” he said.

Francis called for a resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land, the place of Jesus’ birth.

This year has seen the worst levels of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in more than a decade, with at least 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis killed.

As many sat around “a well-spread table”, huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are spent on weapons, he said.

He again condemned the use of food as a weapon of war, saying the war in Ukraine had put millions at risk of famine, mentioning Afghanistan and countries in the Horn of Africa.

Last night, the Pontiff celebrated Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to “consume even their neighbours”.

It was the first with a capacity crowd of about 7,000 following several years of restricted attendance because of Covid-19. About 4,000 other people participated outside in St Peter’s Square on a relatively warm night.

As has been the case for the past several months, a knee ailment prevented the Pope from standing for long periods, delegating a cardinal to be the main celebrant at the altar of the largest church in Christendom.

He wove his homily around the theme of greed and consumption on various levels, asking people to look beyond the consumerism that has “packaged” the feast, rediscover its meaning, and remember those suffering from war and poverty.

“Men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbours, their brothers and sisters,” he said.

“How many wars have we seen! And in how many places, even today, are human dignity and freedom treated with contempt!”

Since Russia invaded it neighbour in February, Pope Francis has spoken out against the war at nearly every public event, at least twice a week, denouncing what he has called atrocities and unprovoked aggression.

He did not specifically mention Ukraine last night.

“As always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable,” he said, denouncing “a world ravenous for money, power and pleasure…”

“I think above all of the children devoured by war, poverty and injustice,” also mentioning “unborn, poor and forgotten children”.

Drawing a parallel between the infant Jesus born in a manger and the poverty of today, the pope said: “In the manger of rejection and discomfort, God makes himself present. He comes there because there we see the problem of our humanity: the indifference produced by the greedy rush to possess and consume.”

Earlier this month, the pope urged people to spend less on Christmas celebrations and gifts and send the difference to Ukrainians to help them get through the winter.