Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first Christmas since his election by denouncing the suffering of people of Gaza \u2013 taking shelter in tents from the \u201crain, wind and cold\u201d \u2013 and by calling for the guns to fall silent in Ukraine.
\nmellstroy
\nOn Christmas Day, the first US-born pope, offered the traditional \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d blessing (\u201cTo the City and to the World\u201d) from the balcony of St Peter\u2019s, surveying a world speckled with conflicts from Yemen to Myanmar, and calling for compassion towards those who have fled their homelands to seek a future in Europe and America.
\nmellstroy com
\nLeo, who was elected on May 8, said Thursday that Jesus Christ is \u201cour peace\u201d because he \u201cshows us the way to overcome conflicts, whether interpersonal or international. With his grace, we can and must each day our part to reject hatred, violence and opposition, and to practice dialogue, peace and reconciliation.\u201d
\n\u0420\u0458\u0420\u00b5\u0420\u00bb\u0421\u0403\u0421\u201a\u0421\u0402\u0420\u0455\u0420\u2116 \u0420\u0454\u0420\u00b0\u0420\u00b7\u0420\u0451\u0420\u0405\u0420\u0455 \u0421\u0403\u0421\u0403\u0421\u2039\u0420\u00bb\u0420\u0454\u0420\u00b0
\nThe pontiff began by asking for \u201cjustice, peace and stability\u201d for Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Israel and Syria. Later, he said that, by becoming man, \u201cJesus took upon himself our fragility,\u201d allowing him to identify \u201cwith those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n
Leo celebrates Christmas Holy Mass at the Vatican.
\nLeo celebrates Christmas Holy Mass at the Vatican. Yara Nardi\/Reuters
\nLeo holds an incent burner at St Peter’s Basilica.
\nLeo holds an incent burner at St Peter’s Basilica. Tiziana Fabi\/AFP\/Getty Images
\nThe pope\u2019s first Christmas since his election took place in wet and cold conditions, but that failed to deter large crowds from coming out to hear his message. <\/p>\n
Earlier during Mass, he asked how, at Christmas, \u201ccan we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold.\u201d With more than 400,000 homes destroyed during Israel\u2019s war against Hamas, Gazans are being forced to choose this winter between living in tents exposed to the elements or living inside buildings that could collapse any minute. <\/p>\n
\u201cFragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,\u201d Leo said. He quoted an Israeli poet, Yehuda Amichai, who called for peace to blossom \u201clike wildflowers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Related article
\nThe acting Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa attends a morning Mass at Saint Catherine’s Church, in the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 25, 2025. REUTERS\/Mussa Qawasma
\nChristmas celebrated once again in Bethlehem but West Bank suffering persists <\/p>\n
Later during his Christmas message, he called for compassion towards those \u201cwho are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent.\u201d He offered Christmas greetings in different languages including Italian, English, Arabic, Chinese, Polish. <\/p>\n
Since his election, Leo has highlighted the plight of those suffering of those in Gaza, and has been outspoken by calling for the better treatment of migrants. In his first major interview in September, the American pope voiced concern over \u201csome things\u201d happening in the country of his birth, highlighting the significance of a letter his predecessor, Pope Francis, had sent to US bishops earlier this year, rebuking the administration\u2019s deportation plans. <\/p>\n
mellstroy
\nhttps:\/\/mellstro.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the first Christmas since his election by denouncing the suffering of people of Gaza \u2013 taking shelter in tents from the \u201crain, wind and cold\u201d \u2013 and by calling for the guns to fall silent in Ukraine. mellstroy On Christmas Day, the first US-born pope, offered the traditional \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[980,810],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amcred.co.ua\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}