Pope delivers his first Christmas address

Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christmas as Roman Catholic leader, called today for dialogue to end the conflict in South Sudan and all wars, saying everyone should strive to be personal peacemakers.

Speaking to tens of thousands of people from the central balcony of St Peter‘s Basilica, the same spot where he emerged to the world as pope when he was elected on March 13th, Francis also made another appeal for the environment to be saved from “human greed and rapacity“.

The leader of the 1.2 billion-member Church wove his first “Urbi et Orbi“ (to the city and world) message around the theme of peace. He called for “social harmony in South Sudan, where current tensions have already caused numerous victims and are threatening peaceful coexistence in that young state.“

Thousands are believed to have died in violence divided along ethnic lines between the Nuer and Dinka tribes in the country, which seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.

He also called for dialogue to end the conflicts in Syria, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, and prayed for a “favourable outcome“ to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Wars shatter and hurt so many lives!“ he said, saying their most vulnerable victims were children, elderly, battered women and the sick.

The thread running through the message was that individuals had a role in promoting peace, either with their neighbour or between nations. The message of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was directed at “every man or woman who keeps watch through the night, who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty,“ he said.

Daily peacemakers

“God is peace: let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world,“ he said.

Pilgrims came from all over the world for Christmas at the Vatican and some said it was because they felt Francis had brought a breath of fresh air to the Church.

“(He) is bringing a new era into the Church, a Church that is focusing much more on the poor and that is more austere, more lively ..“ said Dolores Di Benedetto, who came from the pope‘s homeland, Argentina, to attend Christmas eve Mass.

Giacchino Sabello, an Italian, said he wanted to get a first-hand look at the new pope: “I thought it would be very nice to hear the words of this pope close up and to see how the people are overwhelmed by him.“

In his speech, Francis asked God to “look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become soldiers.“

He also called for a “dignified life“ for migrants, praying tragedies such as one in which hundreds died in a shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa are never repeated, and made a particular appeal against human trafficking, which he called a “crime against humanity“.

Christmas eve Mass

In his first Christmas eve Mass in St Peter’s Basilica last night, the pope lauded Jesus’ humble beginning as a poor and vulnerable baby.

“You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable,” Francis said of Jesus as he delivered his homily in the basilica, packed with the faithful.

Pope Francis has dedicated much of his nine-month-old papacy to drawing attention to the plight of the poor, of children, and other vulnerable members of society.

He noted the first to receive news of Jesus’ birth were shepherds, who in society were considered “among the last, the outcast”.

Pope Francis, who turned 77 a week ago, walked briskly up the main aisle of the basilica for the ceremony, which began more than two hours before midnight.

Keeping with the theme of humility he has set for his new papacy, Francis carried the statue instead of an aide, and kissed a knee of the figure of the newly born Jesus.

The occasional wail of babies in the basilica contrasted at times with the sweet voices of the choir.

The Argentine-born pope has also encouraged his flock to be a joyful church, and he called Jesus “the light who brightens the darkness”.

In the world’s history and our own personal history, Francis said, “there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows”.

He added: “If our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us.”

Francis has applied this same vision to the heart of the Vatican’s own working, saying in past remarks there is no place for personal ambition in the clerical hierarchy.

Rather, he has insisted, the Catholic church must be one of service to those in need.