Pope Francis blended religion and politics in his traditional Christmas message today when speaking from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica to the people gathered in Saint Peter's Square in Rome.
As every year, his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” blessing was addressed not only to the City of Rome but to the entire Catholic world. “Urbi et Orbi” means for “for the city and for the world”. This year it appeared that he was talking not only to his Christian followers but to all mankind.
He started as every Christian preacher would do on Christmas Day, reminding the faithful of the miracle in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born more than two thousand years ago according to the Gospels.
“To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11),” he quoted the Gospel of Luke. “Those words spoken by the angel in the heavens above Bethlehem are also spoken to us. We are full of hope and trust as we realize that the Lord has been born for us.”
The message of Bethlehem is indeed “good news of great joy” (Lk 2:10), he said. “What kind of joy? Not the passing happiness of this world, not the glee of entertainment but a joy that is ‘great’ because it makes us great. For today, all of us, with all our shortcomings, embrace the sure promise of an unprecedented gift: the hope of being born for heaven.”
From this message of hope, so particular for Christianity, he continued with the universal message of peace. “To say ‘yes’ to the Prince of Peace (= Jesus), then, means saying ‘no’ to war, to every war and to do so with courage, to the very mindset of war, an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly. This is what war is: an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly.”
He quoted Isaiah, the prophet in the Old Testament, who (according to Christian faith) prophesied the Prince of Peace, looked forward to a day when ‘nation shall not lift up sword against nation’, a day when men “will not learn war any more”, but instead ‘beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks’ (2:4)”.
From there he turned to the situation in Israel and Palestine, “where war is devastating the lives of those peoples”, and to other countries hit by wars and conflicts. “My heart grieves for the victims of the abominable attack of 7 October last, and I reiterate my urgent appeal for the liberation of those still being held hostage.”
He pleads “for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid.”
“May there be an end to the fueling of violence and hatred,” he prayed. “And may the Palestinian question come to be resolved through sincere and persevering dialogue between the parties, sustained by strong political will and the support of the international community. Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace in Palestine and in Israel.”
His thoughts were likewise turn “to the people of war-torn Syria, and to those of long-suffering Yemen. I think too of the beloved Lebanese people, and I pray that political and social stability will soon be attained.”
Contemplating the Baby Jesus, the Pope said: “I implore peace for Ukraine. Let us renew our spiritual and human closeness to its embattled people, so that through the support of each of us, they may feel the concrete reality of God’s love.”
He also wished that “the day of definitive peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan (may) draw near. May it be advanced by the pursuit of humanitarian initiatives, by the return of refugees to their homes in legality and security, and by reciprocal respect for religious traditions and the places of worship of each community.”
He appealed that “the tensions and conflicts that trouble the region of the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Sudan, as well as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan” will not be forgotten. He wished that the day “when fraternal bonds will be consolidated on the Korean peninsula” by a process of dialogue and reconciliation creating the conditions for lasting peace, will draw near.
Concluding his Christmas message, he again quoted the words of Isaiah’s prophecy, “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners” (61:1).
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
