On December 25, 2024, Pope Francis delivered his Christmas “Urbi Et Orbi Blessing” and his traditional Christmas message from the central balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
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In his Christmas message on Wednesday, Pope Francis called on Ukraine and Russia to negotiate to end a war that left tens of thousands dead after Moscow’s sweeping invasion two years ago.
In his Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) speech, Francis directly mentioned the conflict in Ukraine and called for “the courage needed to open the door to negotiations”.
Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, the pope said: “May the sound of weapons in war-torn Ukraine be silenced!” He also called for “gestures of dialogue and engagement in order to To achieve a just and lasting peace”.
Francis, who has been pope since 2013, was criticized by Ukrainian officials this year when he said the country should have the “white flag” courage to negotiate with Russia to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously ruled out peace talks without restoring Ukraine’s pre-war borders. But in the weeks since Donald Trump was re-elected as US president, Zelensky has shown an increasing willingness to engage in negotiations.
In early December, Zelensky floated the idea of a diplomatic solution, which would include “freezing” the current front lines and deploying foreign troops in Ukraine. Russia demands that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join the NATO military alliance.
As the 88-year-old Francis celebrated his 12th Christmas as Pope, he called for an end to political, social or military conflicts in Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The situation in Gaza is “extremely serious”
Francis has become more critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza in recent times, calling it “brutal” last week, and he has also renewed his call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
He called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “extremely serious” and called for “opening the door to dialogue and peace.”
According to Israeli authorities, on October 7, 2023, Palestinian militants led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, Israel and Hama This is how the Sri Lankan War began.
Authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip say Israeli retaliatory actions aimed at wiping out Hamas have killed more than 45,000 people, mostly civilians. The movement displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins.
Pope Francis opened the Holy Year for the global Catholic Church on Tuesday night, Christmas Eve, which will last until January 6, 2026. The period of absolution.
On Wednesday, the pope said the Jubilee should be a time for “everyone, all peoples and nations… to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the voices of arms and to overcome divisions.”
Francis also said it was time to “tear down all walls of separation.”
He called for a “mutually agreed solution” to dismantle the border wall that has divided the Mediterranean island of Cyprus since 1974 into the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
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