At Christmas Pope Francis gave his blessing "Urbi et orbi" from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. He criticizes the Europeans for dealing with refugees.
- Pope Francis gives his blessing "Urbi et orbi" at Christmas .
- Francis speaks to the faithful from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica .
- The " Urbi et orbi " will be broadcast live on TV .
Update of April 12, 2020: Even in the Corona crisis, Pope Francis donates the Easter blessing "Urbi et Orbi". However, at the Pope's Mass in 2020, a lot will be different than usual.
Update of December 25th, 12:27 pm: Pope Francis has called for peace in the world. In his Christmas message on St. Peter's Square in Rome on Wednesday, the head of the Catholic Church expressed hope for an early end to the Syrian conflict. He also addressed numerous other conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine and the Americas. He also called for better protection for refugees.
Francis complained of various kinds of injustice as the cause of the flight. He also addressed the Europeans with cautionary words: The Pope also called the rejection of the reception of refugees an "injustice". In this respect, the refugees would suffer double injustice. He spoke of an often hardened and selfish heart of people. This should be opened by Christ.
"There is darkness in the economic, geopolitical and ecological conflicts, but the light of Christ is brighter," said Francis from the loggia of St. Peter's in front of thousands of believers in the square. Then the Pope donated the traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi" (the city and the world). Hours earlier, he had called in a separate embassy with church leaders from England and Scotland for a peaceful end to the bloody conflict in South Sudan.
"Urbi et orbi": Pope Francis sends peace message for Christmas
Rome - Pope Francis turns to believers again on Christmas Day . He sends his message of peace to the world and gives the blessing "Urbi et orbi" . From twelve o'clock the leader of the Catholic Church enters the balcony of St. Peter's in Rome . Traditionally, thousands of believers gather directly on St. Peter's Square. But the Pope's words are also broadcast live on TV and in live stream .
"Urbi et orbi": Pope Francis gives blessings in Rome for Christmas
The Latin words "urbi et orbi" translated into German mean "the city and the earth". The Catholic Church thus shows its global character. According to the Vatican, almost 100 TV teams are on site in Rome every year and broadcast the Pope's blessing live in almost 60 countries.
- In Germany, ZDF will broadcast “urbi et orbi” 2019 on TV on the first Christmas holiday , December 25, from twelve o'clock. The blessing is commented here by Jürgen Erbacher.
- The transmission can also be followed in ZDF live stream on a laptop, tablet, computer or smartphone.
According to the Catholic doctrine, all believers who can see or hear the blessing “urbi et orbi” are, under normal circumstances, given a complete release of sin. This also applies if the message is not received live in Rome, but only via radio, television or live stream.
Pope Francis calls for selfless humanity at Christmas
Pope Francis was already addressing the faithful on Christmas Eve. In his Christmas mass he called people to selfless humanity at Christmas. “Do not wait either for the next one to be righteous to do him good, for the Church to be perfect to love it, for the others to respect us for serving us. Let's start, ”said the head of the Catholic Church at the traditional Christmas mass on Tuesday evening in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa dared to compare the time of Christ with the world today - and saw little difference.
On Christmas Eve, Francis emphasized the importance of the Christmas message. "Christmas reminds us that God continues to love everyone, even the worst," he said. At Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of the founder of religion, Jesus Christ, in whom, according to Christian belief, God became man. "In Jesus God made himself a child to be embraced by us," said the Pope.
Pope Francis in Christmas mass: God's love not subject to conditions
God's love for people is not conditional. “How often do we think that God is good when we are good and that He punishes us when we are bad. It's not like that, ”said Francis.
Francis entered the basilica shortly before 9:30 p.m. behind a procession of gold-clad cardinals. Before the mass began, he unveiled a Christ Child figure. Twelve children from Italy, Japan, Venezuela, Kenya, Uganda, the Philippines and Iraq laid flowers all around.
For Francis, who turned 83 last week, it is the seventh Christmas celebration this year as head of the Catholic Church. The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires was the successor to Benedict XVI's resignation in March 2013. been elected pontiff. He donates the traditional papal blessing "Urbi et Orbi" on Wednesday, the first Christmas day.
Christmas was also celebrated on Tuesday in the Holy Land. A convoy of 40 vehicles drove from Jerusalem to Bethlehem in the West Bank, just under 10 kilometers away. The procession was led by the head of the Catholic Patriarchate in the Holy Land, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa. The procession was ceremoniously received at the Nativity scene in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Pizzaballa, an Italian Franciscan, celebrated the midnight mass in the evening in Bethlehem, at which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also appeared.
According to evangelist Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem and placed in a crib. The Church of the Nativity is at the suspected place. Jerusalem, according to the Bible, is the place of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.
In his sermon Pizzaballa compared the times from then and now. "Let us remember that the time of Jesus was no better than ours. At that time there was the occupation by the Romans, there were Herod and there were various centers of power, ”he said. "All in all, people haven't changed much since then."
The Vatican recently caused a sensation by warning of the “gender ideology”. Pope Francis also spoke about prostitution.
rjs / dpa
