Pope Leo has decried conditions \u200dfor Palestinians in \u200dGaza in his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
Leo, the first American \u2060pope, said on Thursday that the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God \u200bhad \u201cpitched his fragile tent\u201d among the people of the world.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cHow, then, \u200dcan we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the \u200dworld\u2019s cardinals to \u2060succeed the late Pope Francis, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.<\/p>\n But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine must include a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n Israel \u200band Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October \u200cafter two years of intense bombardment and military operations in Gaza, but humanitarian agencies say there is still too little aid getting into the largely destroyed Strip, where nearly the entire population is homeless after being displaced by Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n In Thursday\u2019s service with thousands in \u200cSt Peter\u2019s Basilica, Leo also lamented conditions for the homeless across the globe and the destruction caused by the wars \u200croiling the world.<\/p>\n \u201cFragile is the flesh of defenceless \u2060populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,\u201d said the pope.<\/p>\n \u201cFragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the \u200cfront lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths,\u201d he \u200dadded.<\/p>\n In a later appeal during the \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d (to the city and the world) message and blessing given by the pope at Christmas and Easter, Leo called for an end to all global wars, lamenting\u00a0conflicts, \u200cpolitical, social or military, in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and Thailand and Cambodia, among others.<\/p>\n Ahead of the pope\u2019s mass, in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Christian community began celebrating its first festive Christmas in more than two years, as the Palestinian city and biblical birthplace of Jesus emerges from the shadow of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza.<\/p>\n Throughout the war, a sombre tone had marked Christmases in Bethlehem. But celebrations returned on Wednesday with parades and music. Hundreds of worshippers also gathered for mass at the Church of the Nativity on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n With pews filled long before midnight, many stood or sat on the floor for the traditional mass to usher in Christmas Day.<\/p>\n At 11:15 pm (21:15 GMT), organ music rang out as a procession of dozens of clergymen entered, followed by Jerusalem\u2019s Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who blessed the crowd with signs of the cross.<\/p>\n In his homily, Pizzaballa urged peace, hope and rebirth, saying the Nativity story still held relevance in the turbulence of modern times.<\/p>\n He also spoke of his visit to Gaza over the weekend, where he said \u201csuffering is still present\u201d despite the ceasefire. In the Strip, hundreds of thousands of people face a bleak winter in makeshift tents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wounds are deep, yet I have to say, here too, there too, their proclamation of Christmas resounds,\u201d Pizzaballa said. \u201cWhen I met them, I was struck by their strength and desire to start over.\u201d<\/p>\n In Bethlehem, hundreds also took part in the parade down the narrow Star Street on Wednesday, while a dense crowd massed in the square. As darkness fell, multi-coloured lights shone over Manger Square and a towering Christmas tree glittered next to the Church of the Nativity.<\/p>\n The basilica dates back to the fourth century and was built on top of a grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago.<\/p>\n Bethlehem residents hoped the return of Christmas festivities would breathe life back into the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pope Leo has decried conditions \u200dfor Palestinians in \u200dGaza in his first Christmas sermon as pontiff, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Leo, the first American \u2060pope, said on Thursday that the story of Jesus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
![\"Pope](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-24T230116Z_672194945_RC2ANIA5CL2G_RTRMADP_3_CHRISTMAS-SEASON-POPE-EVE-1766656794.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
\u2018The wounds are deep\u2019<\/h2>\n
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