As festivities in the West Bank city are darkened by the war between Israel and Hamas, the pope again issued a call for peace on Sunday.
“Our heart tonight is in Bethlehem,” Pope Francis said Sunday evening at Christmas Mass, as festivities in the West Bank city are overshadowed by the war between Israel and Hamas. “Our soul tonight is in Bethlehem, where the value of peace is still excluded by the trailing judgement of war. With the jangle of weaponries that, even now, prevents it from finding a place in the world.” He said from St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, where he was delivering Mass.
About 6,500 faithful attended the mass presided over by the Argentine pope, in the presence of religious leaders and the diplomatic corps, according to the Vatican. Hundreds of others followed her on giant screens installed outside in St. Peter’s Square.
A hotspot of Christianity, the city of Bethlehem – where Christ was born, according to tradition – was deserted by pilgrims this year and cancelled the majority of Christmas celebrations due to the war.
Sunday noon, during the weekly Angelus prayer, the pontiff had already mentioned the conflict in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army intensified its bombardment in the south of the territory on Sunday. “We are close to our brothers and sisters who are suffering from war: think of Palestine, Israel, Ukraine,”Pope Francis said.
The Argentine Jesuit will pronounce, Monday, December 25 at noon, his traditional urbi et orbi (“to the city and the world”) blessing, during which he traditionally gives an overview of conflicts in the world.
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