In his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, Pope Leo made an unusually direct appeal during a typically solemn, spiritual service on the day that Christians around the world commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The first American pope, Leo, claimed on Thursday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable demonstrated that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the world’s citizens.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
How then can we forget about the tents that have been exposed to the cold, wind, and rain for weeks in Gaza? he inquired.
Leo, who was elected by the world’s cardinals to succeed Pope Francis in May, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and frequently avoids making political references in his sermons.
The new pope, however, has previously expressed regret for the Palestinians’ situation in Gaza and repeatedly stated to journalists last month that a Palestinian state must be the only solution to Israel and Palestine’s decades-long conflict.
After two years of intense bombardment and military operations in Gaza, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in October, but humanitarian organizations claim that little is still being distributed to the Strip, where nearly everyone has been displaced by Israeli attacks.
Leo also lamented the destruction caused by the wars that are ravaging the world during his service with thousands on Thursday at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope said, “Fragile is the flesh of defenceless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds.”
The young people who are forced to take up arms have a senseless sense of what is expected of them and the lies that fill the pompous speeches of those who force them to die, he continued, “Fragile are the minds and lives of young people.”
Leo demanded, among others, that all global wars, lamentations, political, social, or military conflicts be ended during the “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message and blessing given by the pope at Christmas and Easter.
The wounds are extensive, they say.
The Christian community in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, celebrated its first festive holiday since more than two years as the Palestinian city and Jesus’ birthplace emerged from Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza ahead of the pope’s mass.
Christmases in Bethlehem were marked by a depressing tone throughout the war. However, parades and music made their way back on Wednesday. On Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered at the Church of the Nativity for mass.
Many people stood or sat on the floor during the customary mass to celebrate Christmas Day as the crowds were already crowded well before midnight.
Organ music rang out as a crowd of dozens of clergymen marched in Jerusalem at 11:15 pm (21:15 GMT), and the crowd was given the blessing of the cross by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Pizzaballa urged rest, hope, and rebirth in his homily, arguing that the Nativity story still had relevance in the upheaval of the modern turbulence.
He also mentioned his weekend trip to Gaza, where he claimed, “suffering is still present” despite the ceasefire. In the Strip, makeshift tents are used to shelter hundreds of thousands of residents from gloomy winters.
“The wounds are deep, but I have to say that their proclamation of Christmas is still pervasive,” Pizzaballa said. When I first met them, I was struck by their resolve and desire to start over.
On Wednesday, a sizable crowd gathered in the Bethlehem square to watch the parade down the narrow Star Street. A tall Christmas tree gleaming next to the Church of the Nativity as the night fell, and there were bright, colorful lights overhead Manger Square.
The basilica, which is located on top of a grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born more than 2, 000 years ago, dates from the fourth century.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply