Pope Leo XIV used his inaugural Christmas Day sermon to highlight the plight of people in Gaza, who he said have been ‘exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold’. Speaking from the central altar of St Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff drew a direct parallel between the fragility of God’s word and the tents sheltering displaced Gazans.
‘How then can we not think of the tents in Gaza?’ the Pope asked, as he recalled the incarnation of God through Jesus’s birth in a Bethlehem manger. He also reflected on the vulnerability of ‘defenceless populations, tried by so many wars’ and condemned the falsehoods that send young people to their deaths on front lines.
Emphasising that peace can only emerge through genuine conversation, Leo stated: ‘There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other.’ Thousands of worshippers filled the basilica, many capturing the moment on smartphones.
Later, the Pope was scheduled to deliver the traditional ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from a loggia overlooking St Peter’s Square, where the faithful gathered despite steady rain. This Christmas season marks the conclusion of the Holy Year celebrations, which close on 6 January.
