Pope appeals for peace in the Middle East at Christmas
In his Christmas message, Francis also called for the release of the hostages still held by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas. "I carry in my heart the pain for the victims of the despicable attack of October 7 and renew an urgent appeal for the release of those who are still being held hostage," said the 87-year-old Catholic Church leader in front of several thousand pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.
In the long term, the Pontiff called for "the Palestinian issue to be resolved through a sincere and persistent dialog between the parties, backed by a strong political will and the support of the international community". Francis then addressed the faithful around the world and gave the solemn blessing "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city of Rome and the world).
In his Christmas message, the Argentinian Pope mentioned Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, among other conflict regions. He prayed that they would "quickly find their way back to political and social stability".
Francis also wished "peace for Ukraine", where the predominantly Christian Orthodox Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on December 25 instead of January 7 for the first time this year as a sign of turning away from Moscow. Francis also included the people in the two hostile Caucasus states of Armenia and Azerbaijan in his prayers for peace.
Francis had particularly harsh words to say about the arms industry. With regard to the sale and trade of arms, the Pope spoke of "masterminds of wars" and of "machinations of evil that oppose the divine light, in the shadow of hypocrisy and secrecy". Many massacres take place "in deafening silence", said Francis. Many peace-loving people do not know "how much public money is spent on armaments", and this must be written and spoken about.
Francis had already called for peace in the Middle East during the Christmas Eve mass. "Our hearts are in Bethlehem tonight, where the Prince of Peace is still rejected by the doomed logic of war, by the noise of weapons, which even today prevents him from finding a home in the world," he said in St. Peter's Basilica.
In his sermon to the 6,500 or so faithful who celebrated Christmas Eve with him in St. Peter's Basilica, the 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church made no mention of Israel or the Gaza Strip. However, he made numerous allusions to violence and war.
In his weekly Angelus prayer, he had previously emphasized "that we are close to our brothers and sisters who are suffering from war - we think of Palestine, Israel and Ukraine".
As in the previous year, Francis also castigated a culture of "consumerism" at the Christmas Mass. The idea of God as a "powerful ruler" who is associated with "worldly success and the idolatry of consumption" is wrong, he said.
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Source: www.stern.de
