"Stand in silence in front of the crib: this is the invitation for Christmas: go in front of the crib and stand in silence and you'll see the surprises. Unfortunately, however, we get the celebration wrong, and prefer the usual worldly things to the newness of Heaven ". It is not a party, where we are at the center and not Him. "Please do not make Christmas materialistic! Do not leave Christ out!".
Francis received the International Commission against the death penalty. "The acceptance of this form of punishment was a consequence of a mentality of the time, more legalistic than Christian, that sacralized the value of laws lacking in humanity and mercy." Legitimate defense is legitimate, but must always be proportionate.
During the Angelus Pope Francis commented on the liturgical readings of Gaudete Sunday. “In a remote village in the Galilee, in the heart of a young woman unknown to the world, God ignited the spark of happiness for the whole world. And today the same proclamation is addressed to the Church,” he said. “No concern, no fear shall ever take away the serenity that comes from knowing that God lovingly guides our lives, always.” The pontiff urged the international community to implement the directives of the Marrakech conference on migration. He also mentioned the blessing of the Little Children (Bambinelli) brought by the children of Rome.
Receiving the artists who will perform at the Christmas concert at the Vatican, Francis said that "networking with education means allowing people to get up on their feet, to get back on their feet with full dignity" and it is also "a valid solution to open the gates of the refugee camps, allowing young migrants to enter new societies".
In a message to a conference promoted by FAO, Francis notes that in many places "water is contaminated, garbage accumulates, deforestation progresses, the air is stale and the soil acidified. All this generates a harmful accumulation of evils and miseries."
Francis will travel to Bulgaria and visit the Macedonian capital of Skopje.
"The lessons" learned from the two great world can "continue to convince the world’s people and their leaders of the futility of armed conflict and the need to resolve conflicts through patient dialogue and negotiation. ". No effective humanitarian solution to the mass migration crisis "can ignore our moral responsibility" to "welcome, protect, promote and integrate".
Vahid Sayadi Nasiri was jailed on charges of insulting supreme leader Ali Khameni and propaganda against the state. He had already spent two and a half years in prison and had been the subject of abuse and harassment. He had not eaten for 60 days to protest against the lack of legal protection and against the prison regime.
On the day dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Francis spoke about authentic prominence; not the kind that is full of the arrogance or humiliation for others, but the one that doesn’t fear tenderness and hugs, to restore dignity of those who have has fallen.
It is a "audacious" prayer, which contains seven questions to God. "None of us is required to embrace the theory that someone in the past has advanced, that is, prayer of supplication is a weak form of faith, whereas the most authentic prayer is of pure praise, that seeks God without the weight of any request ".
