Seven months after the start of his pontificate, Pope Leo The celebration, presided over at 10 p.m. (local time), took place after an unexpected appearance of the pope in St. Peter’s Square, where he came out to greet the faithful who followed the ceremony on big screens, in the rain and in low temperatures.
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Before entering the basilica, Leo XIV thanked those present for remaining there despite the bad weather, saying: “Thank you for coming despite the rain. Merry Christmas to all.” He then said that Christmas is a celebration of peace and love, wishing protection and blessings to the families together. Hundreds of faithful followed the celebration outside, in front of large screens installed in the square.
The mass officially marked the first “Christmas of Peace” of Leo XIV, an expression adopted by the Pontiff himself in a message broadcast by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household on the occasion of the Christmas festivities and the Jubilee of Hope. In the text, the Pope quotes a phrase from Saint Leo the Great – the first Pontiff to bear the name Leo – according to which “the Christmas of the Lord is the Christmas of peace”. The image that accompanies the message is a mosaic by the Italian artist Alberto Salietti, created in 1955 for the papal apartment.
The celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica was attended by around 250 cardinals, bishops and priests, who celebrated the solemn liturgy on the central altar of Confession. During the initial procession, ten children carrying flowers accompanied the Pope to the basilica’s nativity scene. They came from South Korea, India, Mozambique, Paraguay, Poland and Ukraine, in a symbolic gesture of the universality of the Church.
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The call for peace has been one of the central characteristics of Leo XIV’s pontificate since his election. On Christmas Eve, answering questions from journalists in front of Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope asked for “at least one day of peace” on the date on which Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. He once again spoke of the need for an “unarmed and disarming” peace, an expression he had already used in his first public appearance after being elected Peter’s successor.
The celebrations will continue in the coming days. This Thursday, the feast of Saint Stephen, the Pope will recite the Angelus in Saint Peter’s Square, which will be repeated on Sunday 28. At the end of the year, on December 31, Leo XIV will preside over the general audience and, in the afternoon, the first vespers and the Te Deum of thanksgiving for the year 2025.
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