Remember the war weary and the poor, Pope Francis urges on Christmas Eve
Pope Francis on Saturday led the world’s Catholics into Christmas, 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”, Reuters reports.
Francis, celebrating the 10th Christmas of his pontificate, presided at a solemn Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. It was the first with a capacity crowd of about 7,000 following several years of restricted attendance because of COVID. 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 Francis from standing for long periods, delegating a cardinal to be the main celebrant at the altar of the largest church in Christendom. Sitting to the side of the altar for most of the Mass, 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, 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.
