Addressing the thousands of people who gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the 88-year-old Pope said: “Let the sound of weapons stop in war-torn Ukraine” and more.
“I invite each person and all people of all nations … to become pilgrims of hope to silence the sounds of weapons and overcome divisions,” he said.
Echoing the Christmas message he delivered last year, Pope Francis also called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
“I am thinking about the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, especially in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely difficult,” he said.
He asked that “the doors of dialogue and peace be opened.”
The war in Gaza began after the territory’s rulers, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took another 251 back to Gaza as hostages. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Earlier this week, the Pope twice described Israel’s attacks as “cruelty,” drawing sharp rebuke from Israel, which called the remarks “particularly disappointing.”
Pope Francis also said his thoughts were with the Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria, where rebels recently toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after 24 years in power. Syria’s Christian population has shrunk since the war began in 2011, and is now reportedly a tiny fraction of its pre-war total of about 1.5 million.
Syria’s minorities are expressing fears about their future in the country after Islamist rebels seized power, although the leading rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said all faiths would be protected.
