In his customary Christmas address on Wednesday, Pope Francis called on everyone—from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia—to find the bravery to put an end to the sounds of weapons during this Holy Year.
Urbi et Orbi, the pope The world’s problems this year are summed up in the To the City and the World address. Francis appealed for widespread reconciliation, including (with) our enemies, as Christmas fell on the first day of the 2025 Holy Year celebration, which he devoted to hope.
The pope addressed crowds of people below from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, saying, “I invite every individual, and all people of all nations… to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms, and to overcome divisions.”
The Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to begin the 2025 Jubilee, was evoked by the pope as a symbol of God’s mercy, which unties all knots, pulls down all walls of division, and drives out hatred and the spirit of retaliation.
He called for an end to the use of weapons in the Middle East and war-torn Ukraine, specifically targeting Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories—especially in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is dire—as well as Lebanon and Syria during this delicate period.
On October 7, 2023, Francis reiterated his demands for the return of captives that Hamas had captured from Israel.
He mentioned the suffering of the people of Myanmar who were compelled to leave their homes due to the continued conflict between the armed forces and a deadly measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The pope also recalled hungry and war-torn youngsters, lonely old people, people who have lost their jobs, people who are persecuted for their religious beliefs, and people who are fleeing their own countries.
As the Jubilee is anticipated to gather some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome, pilgrims lined up on Christmas Day to enter St. Peter’s Basilica through the great Holy Door.
During a Jubilee, which is a once-every-quarter-century custom that began in 1300, the faithful can get indulgences, or forgiveness for sins, by passing through the Holy Door.
In the wake of a tragic attack on a German Christmas market, pilgrims complied with security measures before approaching the Holy Door.As they entered the basilica honoring St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, many stopped to touch the door and make the sign of the cross.
A pilgrim from San Diego named Blanca Martin remarked, “You feel so humble when you go through the door that once you go through it is almost like a release, a release of emotions.” It’s almost as if your emotions are released; you feel as though you can finally let go and trust God with everything. You see, I’m getting sentimental. It’s simply a lovely experience.
A Chrismukkah miracle as Hanukkah and Christmas coincide
Christmas Day marks the start of Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights in Judaism, which has only occurred four times since 1900.
Some religious leaders have been motivated by the calendar confluence to organize interfaith events. For example, last week, a number of Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, organized a Hanukkah party that brought together members of the city’s Jewish and Latino communities for latkes, a traditional Hanukkah potato pancake topped with salsa and guacamole.
Although Hanukkah is supposed to be a joyful, joyous occasion, rabbis point out that it is occurring this year amid the Middle East’s ongoing conflicts and growing concerns about antisemitic occurrences. Because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and does not coincide with the Gregorian calendar, which places Christmas on December 25, the celebrations rarely overlap. In 2005, Hanukkah was last observed on Christmas Day.
Iraqi Christians persist in their faith
Christians in Nineveh Plains attended Christmas Mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georgis church in the center of Telaskaf, Iraq, with security concerns about the future. We get the feeling that they could suddenly pull the rug out from under us. Our fate is unknown here, said Bayda Nadhim, a resident of Telaskaf.
Iraq s Christians, whose presence there goes back nearly to the time of Christ, belong to a number of rites and denominations. They once constituted a sizeable minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.
But the community has steadily dwindled since the 2003 US-led invasion and further in 2014 when the Islamic State militant group swept through the area. The exact number of Christians left in Iraq is unclear, but they are thought 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 left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying that there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg. He urged Germans to stand together and that hate and violence must not have the last word.
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had practiced medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect s X account describes him as a former Muslim and is filled with anti-Islamic themes. He criticized authorities for failing to combat the Islamification of Germany and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
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