Pope Francis: Partisans have used Benedict XVI’s death ‘to serve their own interests’

Vatican City, Dec 25, 2017 / 09:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Christmas day said the commemoration of Christ’s birth is an occasion to remember and pray for every child who suffers due to war, poverty and inequality, each of whom bear the face of Jesus.

“Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world and an outdated model of development continues to produce human, societal and environmental decline, Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the Child and to recognize him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, there is no place in the inn,” the Pope said Dec. 25, on Christmas day.

Jesus, he said, was not born as a result of man’s will, “but by the gift of the love of God our Father.”

“The faith of the Christian people relives in the Christmas liturgy the mystery of the God who comes, who assumes our mortal human flesh, and who becomes lowly and poor in order to save us,” he said, adding that “this moves us deeply, for great is the tenderness of our Father.”

Speaking to the 50,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, the Pope noted that this tenderness is expressed in a special way to children who suffer from all the various conflicts in the world.

From the Holy Land to Venezuela, from the Middle East to Africa and Ukraine, he pointed to various conflicts happening around the world and offered prayers for peace in each region marred by war, violence and poverty.

He prayed that peaceful dialogue would be taken up again in Israel and Palestine so that the two parties can negotiate a solution to their conflict “that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two States within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders.”

Francis also prayed for children with unemployed parents and for those forced to migrate alone to other countries, leaving them vulnerable to traffickers.

“Through their eyes we see the drama of all those forced to emigrate and risk their lives to face exhausting journeys that end at times in tragedy,” he said, adding that “Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head. May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem.”

Pope Francis closed his address praying that like Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds, we would also “welcome in the Baby Jesus the love of God made man for us. And may we commit ourselves, with the help of his grace, to making our world more human and more worthy for the children of today and of the future.”

Please read below for the full text of Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi address:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas!

In Bethlehem, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. He was born, not by the will of man, but by the gift of the love of God our Father, who “so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

This event is renewed today in the Church, a pilgrim in time. For the faith of the Christian people relives in the Christmas liturgy the mystery of the God who comes, who assumes our mortal human flesh, and who becomes lowly and poor in order to save us. And this moves us deeply, for great is the tenderness of our Father.

The first people to see the humble glory of the Saviour, after Mary and Joseph, were the shepherds of Bethlehem. They recognized the sign proclaimed to them by the angels and adored the Child. Those humble and watchful men are an example for believers of every age who, before the mystery of Jesus, are not scandalized by his poverty. Rather, like Mary, they trust in God’s word and contemplate his glory with simple eyes. Before the mystery of the Word made flesh, Christians in every place confess with the words of the Evangelist John: “We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).

Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world and an outdated model of development continues to produce human, societal and environmental decline, Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the Child and to recognize him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, “there is no place in the inn” (Lk 2:7).

We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. On this festive day, let us ask the Lord for peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land. Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two States within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. May the Lord also sustain the efforts of all those in the international community inspired by good will to help that afflicted land to find, despite grave obstacles the harmony, justice and security that it has long awaited.

We see Jesus in the faces of Syrian children still marked by the war that, in these years, has caused such bloodshed in that country. May beloved Syria at last recover respect for the dignity of every person through a shared commitment to rebuild the fabric of society, without regard for ethnic and religious membership. We see Jesus in the children of Iraq, wounded and torn by the conflicts that country has experienced in the last fifteen years, and in the children of Yemen, where there is an ongoing conflict that has been largely forgotten, with serious humanitarian implications for its people, who suffer from hunger and the spread of diseases.

We see Jesus in the children of Africa, especially those who are suffering in South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Nigeria.

We see Jesus in the children worldwide wherever peace and security are threatened by the danger of tensions and new conflicts. Let us pray that confrontation may be overcome on the Korean peninsula and that mutual trust may increase in the interest of the world as a whole. To the Baby Jesus we entrust Venezuela that it may resume a serene dialogue among the various elements of society for the benefit of all the beloved Venezuelan people. We see Jesus in children who, together with their families, suffer from the violence of the conflict in Ukraine and its grave humanitarian repercussions; we pray that the Lord may soon grant peace to this dear country.

We see Jesus in the children of unemployed parents who struggle to offer their children a secure and peaceful future. And in those whose childhood has been robbed and who, from a very young age, have been forced to work or to be enrolled as soldiers by unscrupulous mercenaries.

We see Jesus in the many children forced to leave their countries to travel alone in inhuman conditions and who become an easy target for human traffickers. Through their eyes we see the drama of all those forced to emigrate and risk their lives to face exhausting journeys that end at times in tragedy. I see Jesus again in the children I met during my recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, and it is my hope that the international community will not cease to work to ensure that the dignity of the minority groups present in the region is adequately protected. Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head. May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, The sign of Christmas has also been revealed to us: “a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes” (Lk 2:12). Like the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we welcome in the Baby Jesus the love of God made man for us. And may we commit ourselves, with the help of his grace, to making our world more human and more worthy for the children of today and of the future.

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Rome Newsroom, Nov 17, 2023 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
The Vatican announced this week that it was partnering with the auto manufacturer Volkswagen as part of its broader initiative “Ecological Conversion 2030” to i… […]

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At the end of the general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke out against violence, particularly its escalation amid political protests taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Unfortunately, troubling news continues to come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Therefore, I renew my call for everyone to commit to avoiding all forms of violence,” he said Jan. 24.

“On her part, the Church wants nothing other than to contribute to the peace and to the common good of society.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently experiencing deadly political tensions as protesters, banned by the Congolese government, demand that President Joseph Kabila step down.

Dozens of people have died in political protests, and militia violence has increased, prompting fears of a return to civil war.

Under Kabila, who has held office since 2001, Congolese bishops have spoken out against the government’s human rights violations and the president’s plan to remove term limits that bar him from re-election.

The bishops also helped mediate an agreement between the country’s ruling political coalition and opposition leaders, culminating in a Dec. 31, 2016 agreement.

The agreement allowed Kabila to remain in office beyond his mandate but he must step down after an election to be held this year. However, the country’s electoral commission then said an election could not be organized until December 2018. The president’s opponents fear Kabila aims to remain in power, while the president has blamed delays on a slow voter registration process.

The eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo are also suffering from armed conflict, with millions of people forced from their homes.

Francis’ appeal for peace was made at the end of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square. Following just two days after his return from a Jan. 15-22 apostolic visit to Chile and Peru, the Pope recapped the events of the trip, highlighting some important moments.

He noted that in Chile, the trip was preceded by protests, for various reasons, which he said made the motto of the visit, “My peace I give you,” even more “current and alive.”

“These are the words of Jesus addressed to the disciples, which we repeat in every Mass: the gift of peace, which only Jesus, dead and risen, can give to those who entrust themselves to Him,” he said.

In his meeting with Chilean authorities the Pope encouraged them to continue developing their democracy and to listen to the voices of the poor, young, elderly and immigrants.

In his homily for the first Mass of the trip, he emphasized the importance of the Beatitudes, especially “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

The Pope said that an important moment of the trip for him was his visit to the women’s prison in Santiago. “The faces of those women, many of them young mothers, with their little ones in their arms, expressed hope” in spite of everything, he said.

His meetings with consecrated men and women and with bishops were also “very intense,” he stated. During his visit with the bishops, he urged them to reject any compromise when it comes to the sexual abuse of minors, and to trust in God, “who through this hard proof purifies and renews his ministers.”

Two other Masses were also celebrated in Chile: one in the north in Iquique, and the other in the south, in the Araucania region, where the Mapuche Indians live.

He also met with young people and with students and faculty of the Catholic University of Chile, encouraging them to ask themselves, in the words of the Chilean saint, Alberto Hurtado: “What would Christ do in my place?”

In Peru, the motto of Francis’ visit was “United by hope.” There, he said that his meeting with indigenous communities of the Amazon in Peru was “emblematic” of the unity that can be found not in uniformity, but in all the richness of the differences inherited from history and culture.

Speaking to political and civil authorities, he strongly denounced ecological-social degradation and corruption, which he said on Wednesday, “ruins hearts.”

“And I remarked that no one is exempt from responsibility in the face of these two wounds and that the commitment to counter them concerns everyone,” he continued.

In Trujillo, Peru, the Pope held Mass, met with priests and consecrated, and participated in a Marian celebration, in which he crowned the Immaculate Virgin of the Gate of Otuzco, a popular Marian devotion in Peru, the “Mother of Mercy and Hope.”

The final day of the trip took place in Lima, “with a strong spiritual and ecclesial accent,” he said. In Lima he met with around 500 contemplative women religious, who he said are “a true ‘lung’ of faith and prayer for the Church and for the whole society.”

He also prayed before the relics of five Peruvian saints in the Cathedral of Lima and again met with bishops of the country.

“As always, the word of Jesus gives full meaning to everything,” he said. “And so too the Gospel of the last Eucharistic celebration summarized God’s message to his people in Chile and Peru: ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’ (Mk 1:15).”

“Thus – the Lord seemed to say – you will receive the peace that I give you and you will be united in my hope,” he concluded.

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