At noon on December 25, during the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, Pope Francis addressed the faithful from the balcony of St. Peter’s Cathedral with the traditional Christmas message. After the prayer, he gave an apostolic blessing to the Urbi et Orbi (City and World). In his speech, the head of the Catholic Church spoke about conflicts in the world, the need for dialogue, migrants and political prisoners, the Vatican Radio reported.
Pope Francis noted that God does not desire monologue, but dialogue, and that dialogue is in the very nature of God:
“God Himself – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – is a dialogue <…>. Sisters, brothers, “what would our world be without the patient dialogue of a multitude of pure and generous-hearted people <…>”.
The pontiff noted the growing danger in society of an inability to communicate socially – a growing tendency toward solitude, an unwillingness to do things together. According to Francis, the refusal to engage in dialogue at the international level only provokes the conflicts. The Pope recalled the Syrian people, who have lived for more than a decade in a war that has caused “many victims and countless refugees,” as well as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the crisis in Lebanon, Ethiopia.
In the prayer, the pontiff remembered Ukraine:
“Be a light and support for those who believe and work, even going against the tide, in favor of encounter and dialogue, and do not let the metastases of malignant conflict spread in Ukraine.”
The pontiff also asked in prayer for “goodwill to find the best solutions to overcome the health crisis and its consequences” and that those most in need could receive the necessary treatment, and especially vaccines.
The Pope did not speak directly about Belarus, but he did not forget the political prisoners.
“Child of Bethlehem, may all civilian and military prisoners and those imprisoned for political reasons return home soon from the recent conflicts,” Pope Francis prayed. “Let us not remain indifferent to the fate of migrants, refugees, and displaced people,” he said.
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