“Overcoming divisions” and “silence the guns”. During his traditional message “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city of Rome and to the world”) delivered from the Vatican and broadcast on television, on the occasion of the Christmas celebrations, Pope Francis launched a call on Wednesday for peace in the world, darkened by conflicts and humanitarian crises.
Like every year, the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics provided an overview of the main conflicts and sources of tension in the two hemispheres. In front of thousands of faithful gathered in Saint Peter's Square, he called for “silence of the weapons in martyred Ukraine” and urged “gestures of dialogue” with a view to a “just and lasting peace”, while Russia launched more than 70 missiles into the Ukrainian energy network on Christmas Day in the morning.
The 88-year-old pope, his voice breathless, once again denounced the “disastrous humanitarian situation” in Gaza and renewed his calls for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas. Tuesday evening, during Christmas mass, he had already denounced the “machine-gunned children”, the “bombs on schools or hospitals”, an allusion to the Israeli strikes on Gaza, the “cruelty” of which he denounced this week, sparking the protests of Israeli diplomacy.
The Argentine Jesuit also called for humanitarian aid to be facilitated in Sudan ravaged by 20 months of war, where the famine affecting millions of displaced people risks spreading according to the UN. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 12 million Sudanese, causing the world's largest displacement crisis according to the United Nations.
“Breaking down all walls of separation”
From Burma to Haiti via Mali, Venezuela and Cyprus, Francis cited no less than 18 countries, focusing in particular on the Middle East “torn by conflicts”. The Bishop of Rome said he was “close to the Christian community in Lebanon”, and “to that of Syria, in this very delicate period” marked by a new Islamist power and where Christians fear for their future.
In Africa, he prayed for the “families of thousands of children who are dying from a measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo” and the people “of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique.” “The humanitarian crisis affecting them is mainly caused by armed conflicts and the scourge of terrorism. It is aggravated by the devastating effects of climate change which lead to loss of human life and the displacement of millions of people,” he lamented.
Speaking of his native American continent, Francis called on leaders to strive to “build the common good and rediscover the dignity of each person, beyond political divisions.” Without mentioning the United States, where President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to send back millions of migrants, Francis called for “breaking down all walls of separation: the ideological walls, which so often mark political life, and the physical walls” .
Jorge Bergoglio also renewed his call to cancel the debt of the poorest countries on the occasion of Jubilee 2025, which he launched Tuesday evening, the “holy year” of the Catholic Church organized every 25 years and for which more 30 million pilgrims are expected in Rome.
