VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis recalled the birth of Jesus in a stable and, in a sermon on Christmas Eve, reprimanded those who “starve” for wealth and power at the expense of the weak, including children, in which he denounced war, poverty, and greedy consumerism.
In the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis led the evening mass, which was attended by some 7,000 believers, including tourists and pilgrims, who flocked to church on a warm evening and took their seats behind rows of white popes.
Francis learned lessons from the humility of Jesus’s first hours of life in a crib.
“While animals eat in their stables, men and women in our world even eat their neighbors, brothers and sisters in their hunger for wealth and power,” the Pope complained. “How many wars have we seen! And in how many places are human dignity and freedom still treated with contempt today!
“As always, the main victims of this human greed are the weak and vulnerable,” said Francis, who did not name a specific conflict or situation.
“This Christmas too, as in the case of Jesus, a world that is hungry for money, power and pleasure makes no room for the little ones, for so many unborn, poor and forgotten children,” said the Pope and read out his sermon in a voice that sounded tired and almost hoarse. “I am thinking in particular of the children who are engulfed by war, poverty and injustice.”
Yet the Pope exhorted people to take courage.
“Don’t let fear, resignation, or discouragement get the better of you.” Jesus’ lies in a manger show where “the true richness of life is to be found: not in money and power, but in relationships and people.”
Referring to the “so much consumption that holds the secret of Christmas,” Francis said there was a risk that the meaning of the day could be forgotten.
But, he said, Christmas draws attention to “the problem of our humanity — the indifference that comes from the greedy tendency to own and consume.”
“Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor,” Francis said. “He didn’t talk so much about poverty, but lived it until the end, for our sake.”
Francis called on people “not to let this Christmas go by without doing something good.”
When Mass ended, the Pope, pushed into a wheelchair by an aide, walked down the basilica with a life-size statue of the baby Jesus on his lap and flanked by several children carrying bouquets of flowers. The statue was then placed in a crib in a crèche in the basilica.
Francis, 86, uses a wheelchair to travel long distances and a cane for shorter distances due to a painful knee ligament.
Traditionally, Catholics celebrate Christmas Eve by attending mass at midnight. But over the years, the start time in the Vatican has passed earlier and earlier, reflecting the health or stamina of the Popes and then the pandemic.
For two years, the start of Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica was postponed to 7:30pm so that the faithful can come home before the night curfew imposed by the Italian government as a measure to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Although virtually all restrictions caused by the pandemic have been lifted in Italy for a long time, the Vatican stuck to the early start time.
During the Saturday evening service, a choir sang hymns. Clusters of red poinsettia plants near the altar contrasted with the pope’s cream-colored robes.
On Sunday, it was expected that tens of thousands of Romans, tourists and pilgrims would flock to St. Peter’s Square to hear Pope Francis give a speech on world issues and give his blessing. The speech, known in Latin as “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world), is generally an opportunity to review crises such as war, persecution and hunger in many parts of the world.
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Associated Press journalist Luigi Navarra contributed.