Pope at Christmas: Let us silence arms, let us be reconciled with God and with each other

In the Urbi et Orbi message, the Pope's gaze falls on a humanity wounded by wars on every continent and at Christ, as the true Door to be crossed in the Jubilee year that has just begun. ‘May Christmas bring comfort to those in Myanmar who are forced to flee their homes’. Thanks ‘to the missionaries scattered around the world, who bring light and comfort to so many people in difficulty’.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - An invitation to ‘every person, every people and nation to have the courage to pass through the Door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence weapons and overcome divisions’.

This is Pope Francis' appeal - after opening the Holy Door of the Vatican basilica last night, inaugurating the Jubilee 2025 - made to the entire world in his Urbi et Orbi message from the Loggia of Blessings in St. Peter's with his Christmas greetings.

‘This night,’ said the Pope, ’the mystery that never ceases to amaze and move us was renewed: the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God. Yes, this event, which happened more than two thousand years ago, is renewed through the work of the Holy Spirit. And so today, in the travail of our time, the eternal Word of salvation is once again truly incarnated, saying to every man and woman, saying to the whole world: ‘I love you, I forgive you, return to me, the door of my heart is open’. Let us be forgiven: God always forgives, God forgives everything'.

This is the meaning of the Holy Door that Francis opened last night and that will welcome pilgrims to Rome for an entire year. ‘It represents Jesus, the Door of salvation open for all,’ the Pope explained, ’Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid! The Door is open, the door is wide open! There is no need to knock on the door. It is open. Come! Let us be reconciled with God, and then we will be reconciled with ourselves and able to be reconciled with one another, even our enemies. God’s mercy can do all things. It unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; God’s mercy dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge. Come! Jesus is the Door of Peace’.

And this is the invitation that Francis returned to address to all the peoples of the world, especially those most painfully wounded by war. ‘Let there be a hush to arms in the tormented Ukraine,’ he asked, ’May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine! May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace. SMay the sound of arms be silenced in the Middle East! In contemplating the Crib of Bethlehem, I think of the Christian communities in Palestine and in Israel, particularly the dear community in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war. I express my closeness to the Christian community in Lebanon, especially in the south, and to that of Syria, at this most delicate time. May the doors of dialogue and peace be flung open throughout the region, devastated by conflict'.

But there are also many other nations brought to their knees by conflict: Francis specifically mentioned the Libyan people, still in search of national reconciliation, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique. Turning his gaze to Asia, he continued: “May the proclamation of Christmas bring comfort to the people of Myanmar, who, due to the ongoing clash of arms, suffer greatly and are forced to flee their homes.”.

For the American continent, he called for ‘effective solutions in truth and justice, to promote social harmony, particularly in Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua’. He did not fail to mention the walls of separation that need to be torn down, ‘the ideological ones, which so often mark political life, and the physical ones, such as the division that has been affecting the island of Cyprus for fifty years now and has torn its human and social fabric’.

Returning to cross the wide-open door that is Jesus, however, also asks everyone to ‘rediscover the meaning of our existence and the sacredness of every life’, recovering ‘the founding values of the human family’. ‘He awaits us at the threshold. He awaits each one of us, especially the most vulnerable. He awaits the children, all those children who suffer from war and hunger. He awaits the elderly, so often forced to live in conditions of solitude and abandonment. He awaits those who have lost their homes or are fleeing their homelands in an effort to find a safe haven. He awaits all those who have lost their jobs or are unable to find work. He awaits prisoners who, everything notwithstanding, are still children of God, always children of God. He awaits all those – and there are many of them – who endure persecution for their faith."

But in this Christmas that opens the Jubilee, Pope Francis also invited not to fail to be grateful to ‘those who do their best for the good in a silent and faithful manner: I am thinking of parents, educators and teachers - he listed - who have the great responsibility of forming future generations; I am thinking of health workers, the forces of law and order, those engaged in works of charity, especially missionaries scattered throughout the world, who bring light and comfort to so many people in difficulty’.

Finally, he cited the Jubilee appeal to forgive debts, ‘especially those that burden the poorest countries. But it is each of us who is called to ‘forgive the offences received, because the Son of God, who was born in the cold and darkness of the night, forgives all our debts. He came to heal us and forgive us,' the Pontiff concluded. Pilgrims of hope, let us go out to meet Him! Let us open the doors of our hearts to Him, as He has thrown open the door of His Heart to us’.