On this Sunday December 24, the fourth of Advent and Christmas Eve, Pope Francis urged the faithful at the end of the Angelus to be close at this time of celebra-tion to the people in the world who suffer from war.
“Palestine, Israel, and Ukraine,” he said this morning from the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, are places that go towards Christmas without peace. Let us “also think of those who suffer from misery, from hunger, from slavery,” he said.
Francis expressed hope that this may be a day lived “in prayer, in the warmth of affection, and in soberness. Let me make one recommendation: let us not confuse celebration with consumerism,” he explained. Instead, for Christians, the path to follow this Christmas is that of simplicity, “without waste, and by sharing with those who lack nece-ssities or lack companionship.”
This Sunday the Holy Father asked God, who “took a human heart for Himself [to] infuse humanity into the hearts of men!”
Before his address following the recitation of the Marian pra-yer, he greeted those present, “Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from various parts of the world.”
He singled out for a special greeting a large delegation of Italians in St Peter’s Square from areas “officially recognised as highly polluted and who have long awaited their clean-up.”
The delegation was accompanied by a long banner that read: “From the S.I.N. (Sites of National Interest), we demand justice, remediation, and a change in the protection of the environment and health.” “I express solidarity with these populations and hope that their voices will be heard,” the Holy Father said.