In his Christmas message on Sunday, Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, saying the world was suffering from a “famine of peace.”
In his 10th Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message, he urged people to look beyond the “shallow holiday glitter” and help the homeless, immigrants, refugees, and the poor in their midst who are seeking comfort, warmth, and food.
“Let us see the faces of all those children who, everywhere in the world, long for peace,” he said from the central balcony of St. Peter Basilica, where he first appeared as Pope on March 13, 2013.
“Let us also see the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes due to the devastation caused by ten months of war,” he said, addressing tens of thousands of people in the square below.
He spoke just hours after air raid sirens wailed across Ukraine and a day after Kyiv said a Russian strike on the recently liberated city of Kherson on Saturday killed at least five people and injured 35 more in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as wanton killing for pleasure.
“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!” said Francis.
He stated that the Ukraine conflict should not overshadow concern for people whose lives have been devastated by other conflicts or humanitarian crises, naming Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Haiti, and the Sahel region of Africa as examples.
“Our time is experiencing a grave famine of peace…” he added.
In the Holy Land, the birthplace of Jesus, Francis called for the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
This year has seen the highest level of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in over a decade, with at least 150 Palestinians and over 20 Israelis killed.
He claimed that because so many people sat around “a well-spread table,” huge amounts of food are wasted every day and resources are spent on weapons.
He condemned the use of food as a weapon of war once more, claiming that the conflict in Ukraine had put millions at risk of famine, citing Afghanistan and countries in the Horn of Africa.
