In introducing the Marian prayer, Francis noted that Saint Joseph shows the way and "opens up new horizons", which are those of God. Earlier, the pontiff met with the children cared for at the Santa Marta Paediatric Dispensary; after the prayer, he urged the faithful to pray for the children in Ukraine and all places where they may suffer from war. In an interview with ABC, he said that he had already signed his letter of resignation in case of medical impediment.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – At the Angelus Pope Francis reflected on Saint Joseph, and prayed afterwards for peace “in the Southern Caucasus”[*] where  the “humanitarian conditions of the population” has become precarious and risks “further deterioration” because of the winter.  For this reason, he urged the various parties to find “peaceful solutions for the good of the people.”

The pontiff also called on the faithful to pray for Peru, “that the violence in that country might cease and that the path of dialogue might be embarked upon to overcome the political and social crisis that is afflicting the population.”

In his greetings to the many pilgrims from Italy and around the world present in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis urged them to ask the Virgin Mary to “touch the hearts of those who can stop the war in Ukraine” and ”not forget the suffering of those people, especially [. . .] the babies, the elderly, the people who are sick.”

Earlier, in introducing the Marian prayer, the pope spoke of the fourth and final Sunday of Advent in which the liturgy presents the figure of Saint Joseph, a "just man” who is about to get married, a man who has “simple and good dreams”: a loving wife, children, a dignified job.

Yet, his “dreams come up against a disconcerting discovery. Mary, his betrothed, is expecting a child, and the child is not his!” Feeling “[s]hock, pain, confusion, perhaps even irritation and disappointment”; instead of accusing “Mary and make her pay the price for her alleged infidelity”, he chose a second option offered by the law”, i.e. “to secretly annul their engagement without exposing Mary to scandal and to harsh consequences, taking upon himself, however, the burden of shame.” 

Joseph, said the pontiff, chose “the way of mercy” and when he is “evaluating all this”, “God shines a new light in his heart – he declares to him in a dream that Mary’s motherhood did not come about because of a betrayal, but by the work of the Holy Spirit, and the baby that would be born is the Saviour”.

Upon waking up, Joseph understood “that the greatest dream of every devout Israelite – to be the father of the Messiah – was being fulfilled for him in a completely unexpected way.” A simple carpenter who trusts, one who entrusts himself to God “above and beyond”, welcomed Mary and her child “in a completely different way than was expected”.

To do this, he has to “renounce all reassuring certainties, his perfect plans, his legitimate expectations, and open himself to a future that he would have to discover.” And before God who upset his plans, he showed the "heroic" courage to answer "yes" without asking “”further guarantees”.

To us today, “Joseph shows us the way. We do not need to give in to negative feelings, like anger or isolation [. . .]. Instead, we need to attentively welcome surprises in life, even crises.

“When we find ourselves in crisis, we should not make decisions quickly or instinctively, but, like Joseph ‘consider everything” (cf. v. 20), and base ourselves on the underlying certainty of God’s mercy.”

Indeed, “God opens crises into new horizons, perhaps not as we would expect, but in the way that He knows how. God’s horizons are surprising, but infinitely grander and more beautiful than ours!”

In the morning, Francis met in the Paul VI Hall with the children cared for at the Santa Marta podiatric dispensary in the Vatican, along with their families and volunteers.

In his brief greeting, he thanked “each one of you, for your presence" on this day in which we prepare for Christmas, urging them "not to forget the children of Ukraine", pointing to a sign with the word "peace" next to the flag of Ukraine.

"Many children suffer from war,” he explained. Many “also suffer in other parts from injustice. If the Lord gives us the joy of celebrating Christmas, everyone together, in peace, let us thus think about all those who suffer and pray for them, everyone together".

The pontiff went on to speak about his potential resignation, which he mentioned in an interview published today in the Spanish newspaper ABC.

"I have already signed my resignation," he noted, when "Tarcisio Bertone was the secretary of state."

"In case of an impediment for medical or other reasons, this is my [letter of] resignation,” he said. “I don’t know to whom Cardinal Bertone gave it, but I gave it to him when he was secretary of state" and he should have given it "to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the new secretary of state."

Francis, who turned 86 yesterday, noted that he is in good health even though he has to use a wheelchair often, for “one rules with the head, not the knee".

Finally, he addressed the "painful" issue of the victims of abuse in the Church and the role of women who, in the not too distant future, could head “a dicastery in which a layperson can be a prefect".

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[*] The reference is to the Lachin Corridor, the only link between Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Azerbaijani forces have blocked it for several days.

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