THE Pope Leo XIV criticized conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon this Thursday (25), in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn and spiritual service on the day when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Leo, first pope of UNITED STATESsaid the story of Jesus’ birth in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.
“How then can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked.
Lion, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the cardinals to succeed the deceased Pope Francis, has a calmer and more diplomatic style than his predecessor and generally refrains from making political references in his sermons.
In a subsequent Christmas blessing, the pope, who made concern for immigrants a key theme of his first pontificate, he also deplored the situation of migrants and refugees who “cross the North American continent”.
Leão, who has criticized the repression of US President Donald Trump immigration didn’t talk about it. In his Christmas Eve sermon on Wednesday, the pope said that refusing to help the poor and strangers is tantamount to rejecting God himself.
“Rubble and open wounds” of war
The pope has recently repeatedly lamented the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza and told reporters last month that the only solution to the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, after two years of intense Israeli bombardment and military operations that followed an attack by Hamas-led fighters on Israeli communities in October 2023. Humanitarian agencies say very little aid is still reaching Gaza, where almost the entire population is displaced.
During this Thursday’s service, with thousands of people present St. Peter’s Basilica, Leão also deplored the situation of homelessness around the world and the destruction caused by war.
“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tested by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” the pope said. “Fragles are the minds and lives of the young people forced to take up arms, who, on the front line, feel the absurdity of what is asked of them and the lies that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths,” he said.
Conflicts in Ukraine, Thailand and Cambodia
In a call this Thursday during the message and blessing “Urbi and Orbi” (For the City and the World) offered by the Pope at Christmas and EasterLeo called for an end to all world wars.
Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he deplored the conflicts, political, social and military, in the Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, among other countries.
Leão said the Ukrainian population was “tormented” by the violence. “May the noise of arms cease and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue,” the pope said.
For Thailand and Cambodia, where border fighting is in its third week, with at least 80 dead, Leão called for restoring “the ancient friendship” between the two nations, “to work for reconciliation and peace”.
About The Author
