Pope Francis urged” all people of all nations” to get confidence during this Holy Month to” silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the earth, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia, in his classic Christmas message on Wednesday. The pope’s” Urbi et Orbi”—” To the City and the World” — target serves as a summary of the difficulties facing the world this time. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, “even ( with ) our enemies”. ” I encourage every individual, and all people of all nations … to be travellers of hope, to silence the sound of hands and overcome units”, the pope said from the courtyard of St. Peter’s Basilica to throngs of people above. The bishop cited the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve, to inaugurate the 2025 Jubilee, as a sign of God’s mercy, which “unties every tie, tears down every walls of division, dispels hatred and the nature of revenge.” He also urged the launch of hostages from Israel and the Palestinian territories, “particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” as well as Lebanon and Syria, “at this most sensitive time.
Bethlehem celebrates a gloomy Christmas amid the Gaza warHe cited the suffering of the people of Myanmar, who were forced to flee their homes due to” the ongoing clash of arms” and a deadly outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pope likewise remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith. Around 32 million Catholics are expected to visit Rome on Christmas Day by walking through the magnificent Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. In response to new security concerns following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany, pilgrims were subject to security checks before entering the Holy Door. As they passed, many people made the sign of the cross as they entered the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, the Roman Catholic Church’s founder. ” You feel so humble when you go through the door that once you go through is almost like a release, a release of emotions”, said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. You feel as though you are able to let go and put everything in the hands of God, which almost feels like a release of emotions. See I am getting emotional. It’s just a beautiful experience” .Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900. Some religious leaders have been hosting interfaith gatherings, like a latkes, a traditional potato pancake topped with guacamole and salsa that was hosted last week by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas. Rabbis note that Hanukkah is being celebrated as a joyful, upbeat holiday, as well as the Middle East wars rage and concerns grow about frequent incidents of antisemitism. Because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, which places Christmas on December 25, the holidays occasionally overlap. Hanukkah was last celebrated on Christmas Day in 2005.1:42.
Celebrating Hanukkah in a time of rising antisemitismTrending Now
In response to accusations made against Justin Baldoni, Hollywood stars have backed Blake Lively.
Canada has ended’ flagpoling’ for immigrants. What is the practice?
With security concerns about the future, Christians in Nineveh Plains attended the Mar Georgis church in Telaskaf, Iraq, on Tuesday for Christmas Mass. We believe they will pull the rug from under our feet at any time. 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. However, the population has steadily decreased since the US-led invasion in 2003 and even more so in 2014, when the Islamic State militant group swept through the area. Although it’s not known how many Christians are still living in Iraq, some believe there to be several hundred thousand. 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 made German celebrations less peaceful. There is grief, pain, horror, and incomprehension over what transpired in Magdeburg, according to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack. He urged Germans to” stand together” and that “hate and violence must not have the last word.” A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has been a doctor in Germany since 2006 was detained 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 the government for failing to stop” the Islamification of Germany” and backed the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) movement. 2: 21
Germany Christmas market attack: 50-year-old psychologist faces 5 counts of murderBarry reported from Milan. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Rashid Yehya in Teleskaf, Iraq and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.
