Pope Francis in his traditional style Christmas Wednesday's message urged “people of all nations” to find courage to “silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” during this holy year, from the Middle East to Ukraine, from Africa to Asia. until, plagues the world.
The Pope's “Urbi et Orbi” – “To the City and the World” – address serves as a summary of the problems facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the celebration of the 2025 Holy Year he dedicated to hope, Francis called for greater reconciliation, “even with our enemies.”
“I invite everyone, and all peoples of all nations, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of weapons and to stop division. Take control,” the pope told the crowd below the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica.
The Pope called the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to mark the beginning of the 2025 Jubilee, a representation of God's mercy, which “unties every knot; it unties every wall of division.” It brings down the spirit of hatred and vengeance.”
They called for a ceasefire in war-torn Ukraine and the Middle East, alienating Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is dire, as well as in Lebanon and Syria. This is the most critical time.”
On October 7, 2023, Francis reiterated his calls for the release of hostages from Israel held by Hamas.
He cited the deadly measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the plight of people in Myanmar, who were forced to flee their homes by “ongoing armed conflict.” The Pope also remembered the children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in isolation, those who fled their homelands, those who lost their jobs, and those who were persecuted for their faith.
Pilgrims lined up to pass through the Great Holy Door at the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.
Passing through the Holy Door is one way the faithful can receive absolution or remission of sins during the Jubilee, a tradition every quarter century dating back to the 1300s.
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Pilgrims gather at security controls before entering the holy gates amid fresh security concerns after a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Germany. Many stopped to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross as they entered the basilica, dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.
“You feel so humbled when you walk through the door that once you walk through it's almost a release, a release of emotion,” said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. It's almost like a release of emotion, you feel like you're now able to let go and put everything in God's hands. Look, I'm getting emotional. It's just a beautiful experience.”
Chrismuka is a miracle like Hanukkah and Christmas together.
Hanukkah, Judaism's eight-day festival of lights, begins on Christmas Day this year, which has happened only four times since 1900.
The juxtaposition of the calendar has prompted some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as a Hanukkah party hosted by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas last week, drawing the city's Latino and Jewish communities. People gathered for latkes, the traditional potato pancake eaten at Hanukkah. , topped with guacamole and salsa.
While Hanukkah is intended as a joyful, celebratory holiday, the rabbis noted that it is taking place this year at a time when wars are raging in the Middle East and widespread anti-Semitism is feared to be on the rise. is The holidays rarely overlap because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is incompatible with the Gregorian calendar, which places Christmas on December 25. The last time Hanukkah started on Christmas Day was in 2005.
Iraqi Christians stick to their faith.
Christians in the Nineveh plains attended Christmas mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georges Church in the center of Tulsaqaf, Iraq, with security concerns about the future. “We feel they will pull the rug from under our feet anytime. Our fate is unknown here,” said Baida Nadeem, a resident of Tulskaaf.
Christians in Iraq, whose presence there dates back almost to the time of Christ, belong to a variety of rites and sects. They once formed a significant minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.
But the community has steadily declined since a US-led invasion in 2003 and again in 2014, when the Islamic State militant group overran the region. The exact number of Christians left in Iraq is unclear, but is believed to number several hundred thousand.
German celebrations muted by market attack
German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that killed five people, including a 9-year-old boy, and injured 200. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying “the grief, the pain, the horror and the incomprehensibility of what happened in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hatred and violence must not have the last word.”
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had been practicing medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. The suspect's X account describes him as a former Muslim and is full of anti-Islamic themes. He criticized the authorities for failing to combat the “Islamization of Germany” and expressed support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Barry reported from Milan. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Rashid Yahya in Teleskaf, Iraq and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.
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