rome
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Pope Leo
On Christmas Day, the first American-born pope offered the traditional “Urbi e Orbi” (“To the City and to the World”) blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, surveyed a world pockmarked by conflicts from Yemen to Myanmar, and called for compassion for those who have fled their homelands in search of a future in Europe and the United States.
Leo, who was elected May 8, said Thursday that Jesus Christ is “our peace.” Because Jesus Christ “shows us how to overcome conflict, whether interpersonal or international. By the grace of Jesus Christ, we can and must do our part every day to reject hatred, violence, and opposition and practice dialogue, peace, and reconciliation.”
The Pope began by calling for “justice, peace and stability” for Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Israel and Syria. He then said that by becoming human, “Jesus took upon himself our weaknesses,” allowing him to identify with “people like the people of Gaza who have nothing left and have lost everything.”
The Pope’s first Christmas since his election was held in wet and cold weather, but that did not deter the large crowds who gathered to hear his message.
At the beginning of the Mass, he asked, on Christmas Day, “why can’t we think about the tents in Gaza that have been exposed to the rain, wind and cold for weeks?” More than 400,000 homes have been destroyed in Israel’s war with Hamas, forcing Gaza residents to choose between living in exposed tents this winter or in buildings that are at risk of collapsing.
“The bodies of defenseless people are fragile and have been tested by the many wars that are ongoing or have ended, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” Leo said. He quoted the words of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, who called for peace to bloom “like wild flowers.”
In a subsequent Christmas message, he called for compassion for those who “flee their homes in search of a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean or the Americas.” He delivered Christmas greetings in various languages including Italian, English, Arabic, Chinese and Polish.
Since his election, Leo has emphasized the plight of people suffering in the Gaza Strip and has openly called for better treatment of migrants. In his first major interview in September, the U.S. pope expressed concern about “certain events” in his home country and emphasized the importance of a letter his predecessor, Pope Francis, sent to U.S. bishops earlier this year condemning the regime’s deportation plans.
Leo also used the blessings of Christmas to pray for the “suffering Ukrainian people” who have been resisting Russian aggression for about four years. “May the cries of arms cease, and with the support and commitment of the international community, all concerned can find the courage to engage in honest, direct and respectful dialogue,” Leo said.
Leo began the Christmas celebrations by presiding over a “Midnight Mass” on Christmas night in a packed St. Peter’s Basilica attended by dozens of cardinals. At the beginning of the service, children from South Korea, India, Mozambique, Paraguay, Poland and Ukraine joined Leo in the procession to the Nativity, carrying flowers.
The Vatican said 6,000 people were inside the cathedral, while 5,000 people gathered outside in the square to watch the mass on large screens, many with umbrellas to protect them from the rain. Leo thanked them for coming despite the bad weather, saying, “I admire, respect and thank everyone for their courage and motivation for coming here tonight.”
In his sermon, Leo spoke about the “wisdom” of the Christmas story, saying, “While humanity seeks to become ‘god’ in order to dominate others, God chose to become human in order to free us from all forms of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?”
A day earlier, the pope said he was “very sad” that Russia had not agreed to a Christmas truce in the war with Ukraine and hoped for “at least 24 hours” of peace. Mr. Leo, who was elected in May, met several times with President Volodymyr Zelensky and recommended the Vatican as a mediator for peace talks with Russia, but the Russian government did not take up the offer. Like his recent predecessors, Leo strives to be a peacemaker, writing on a card prepared by the Holy See: “The Lord’s Christmas is a Christmas of peace.”
The 70-year-old pope, the youngest pope since John Paul II was elected at age 58, has presided over more Christmas services than any previous pope and is reviving the tradition of celebrating Mass on Christmas Day for the first time since 1994.
Leo’s Christmas Eve service began later than in recent years at 10 p.m. Roman time, and the Christmas wake mass was moved to around 7 p.m. due to curfews due to the coronavirus pandemic and remained at that time. Before 2009, Mass was held at midnight, but Pope Benedict XVI decided to move it two hours earlier.
St. Peter’s Square has been decorated with a Nativity scene from the Parish of Nocera Inferiore Sarno in the southwestern Italian region of Campania and a 25-meter-tall Christmas tree from the Val Durtimo district of Bolzano in northern Italy. St. Peter’s Basilica also hosts an exhibition of over 100 Christmas crib scenes from different cities and countries. These include Chicago, Pope Leo’s hometown, and Peru, where the pope served as a missionary and bishop for several years.
The Christmas period also marks the official end of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, a 12-month period dedicated to pilgrimage, spiritual renewal and forgiveness that occurs every 25 years. The special “holy doors” in the four papal cathedrals through which pilgrims can pass during the Jubilee year will be closed and boarded up in the coming days. Leo will officiate at the closing of the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Church on January 6, 2026.
