In his 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing, the Pope addressed his first thought to Ukraine: "May our gaze be filled with the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are living this Christmas in the dark, in the cold or far from their homes, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war. May the Lord make us ready for concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering, and enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war! Unfortunately, we prefer to listen to other reasons, dictated by the logic of the world. But who listens to the voice of the Child?".
Christmas, Pope: 'I think of the children devoured by wars'
Speaking of the war in Ukraine, the Pope, in his Urbi et Orbi, also referred to the grain crisis.
"We think of people who suffer from hunger, especially children, while every day large quantities of food are wasted and resources are spent on weapons. The war in Ukraine has further aggravated the situation, leaving entire populations at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa. Every war, we know, causes hunger and exploits food itself as a weapon, preventing its distribution to already suffering populations".
The Pope then launched an appeal: "On this day, learning from the Prince of Peace, let us all commit ourselves, first and foremost those with political responsibilities, so that food is only an instrument of peace.
There is not only war in Ukraine because "our time is experiencing a serious lack of peace also in other regions, in other theaters of this third world war".
The Pope said so in Urbi et Orbi.
The Pontiff mentioned Syria, "still tormented by a conflict that has faded into the background but has not ended".
Then Lebanon "so that it can finally recover, with the support of the international community".
Concern was also expressed for the Sahel, Yemen and for "the political and social tensions" in the American continent, "I am thinking in particular of the Haitian population who have been suffering for a long time".
The Pope spoke of "a world sick with indifference, a bad disease" that does not welcome Jesus, "indeed rejects him, as happens to many foreigners,
or ignore it, as we too often do with the poor.
Let us not forget today the many refugees and displaced persons who knock on our doors in search of comfort, warmth and food.
Let us not forget the marginalized, the lonely, the orphans and the elderly, the wisdom of a people, who risk ending up discarded, the prisoners whom we look at only for their mistakes and not as human beings", concluded the Pope.
The Pope invites us to strip off all those "ballasts" that prevent us from finding a way to peace: "attachment to power and money, pride, hypocrisy, lies. These burdens - said Pope Francis in the traditional 'Urbi et Orbi' blessing - they prevent us from going to Bethlehem, exclude us from the grace of Christmas and close off access to the path of peace. And indeed, we must sadly note that, while the Prince of Peace is being given to us, winds of war continue to blow icy on humanity".
The Pope, in his Urbi et Orbi blessing, also mentions the tensions affecting Iran and Myanmar.
He hopes for "reconciliation" for these two countries so that "all bloodshed will cease".
