Francis dedicated the Midnight Mass to children suffering from “wars, poverty and injustice”.

the Pope Francisco Allocated traditional Midnight Mass Which was celebrated on Saturday 24 December in the Vatican For children suffering from “wars, poverty and injustice”while criticizing the “predatory impulse to own and consume” and calls for A The church is at the service of the poor.

“While the animals in the stable consume food, the men of the world who are thirsty for power and money devour their neighbors and brothers in the same way.How many wars! Peter’s Basilica, during Mass on Christmas Eve, the tenth since his election in March 2013.

Francis later added, implying that The conflict began in Ukraine Ten months ago, and the rest of the open wars in the world, such as Yemen or Syria.

Pope Francis asked: “Thanksgiving, conversion and peace are the gifts of Christmas this year.”

Thus, Francis stated that “This Christmas, as it happened to Jesus, A Humanity is insatiable with money, power and pleasure Nor does it give way to the young, the many unborn, the poor, the forgotten.” I think first of all Children devoured by wars, poverty and injusticeHe confirmed.

In this context, this week the Pope sent the Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, a beggar, to distribute generators and thermal shirts to the population of Ukraine. In fact, the Polish Cardinal will celebrate Christmas in Kyiv on Sunday, he confirmed blame. Thus, the Pope issued “an invitation to look at life, politics and history through the eyes of children.”

He later added, “In the manger of rejection and annoyance, God adjusts himself to himself, and gets there, because there is the problem of humanity, the indifference generated by the voracious impulse to possess and to consume.” Jorge Bergoglio86 years old, who showed himself He has made a remarkable recovery from the knee injury that last year prevented him from leading some of the festivities.

In a ceremony that began at 7:30 pm local time (3:30 pm in Argentina), the Pope was accompanied 25 cardinals, 15 bishops and 200 priests from all over the world who celebrated Mass before some 7,000 people gathered inside the church and another 3,000 watched the ceremony from screens in St. Peter’s Square.

A priest “close” to Pope Francis had invited the nuns to the triumvirate to “repeat the Holy Trinity”

During the celebration, the Pope also sent messages into the Roman Curia, asking the Church to look to those most in need. “We are called to be a Church that adores poor Jesus and serves Jesus in the poor,” he declared, before quoting Saint and Martyr Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

“The Church supports and blesses efforts to transform these structures of injustice and sets only one condition: social, economic and political transformations that truly benefit the poor,” said Francisco, recalling a text by Romero.

Along these lines, Francisco also emphasized that “it is not easy to leave the warmth of worldly life to embrace the wild beauty of the Grotto of Bethlehem, but let us remember that it is not really Christmas without the poor.”

He called out: “Without them, Christmas is celebrated, but not the feast of Christ. Brothers, and sisters, at Christmas God is poor. May charity be reborn!”

Pope Francis sees an apocalyptic future with “greater harbingers of destruction and ruin”

How was the Christmas Eve Mass?

The Christmas Eve Mass began with the Pope’s processions towards the main altar, to the tune of the song “Calinda”, which begins in Latin from Creation until the night Jesus was born according to Catholic writings.

In this context, the Pope also devoted a passage to criticizing the consumerist character that the celebration had acquired. “Two thousand years after the birth of Jesus, after so many Christmases celebrated amid decorations and gifts, after all the consumerism that included the obscurity with which we celebrate it, there is a danger: we know many things about Christmas, but we forget the meaning,” Pope Francis said.

Festivities continue in December and January

Pope’s ceremonies schedule This Sunday continues at noon, when Francis addresses his traditional Christmas message, in which he reviews the Vatican’s interest in open conflicts on a global scale, and conveys the Apostolic Blessing “Urbi et Orbi”, that is, to the city of Rome and to the world. .

Meanwhile, on Monday the 26th he will offer the Angelus from the traditional window of the Apostolic Palace.

In other passages of his Saturday homily, Francis also reminded that “the humble manger, therefore, highlights the true wealth of life: not money and power, but relationships and people.”

Before Mass, Pope Request for “world peace in this sad moment” In a video message he sent to the Spanish “Messengers of Peace” association.

“But also the smallest peace, the peace of small towns, the peace of small families that need it, the peace of every person,” he said in the letter to the Madrid-based organization, which operates in more than 50 countries. In favor of the humanitarian and social promotion of the most disadvantaged groups in society, and adapting to different social realities.

After this weekend’s festivities, Pope Francis will celebrate a new Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, January 1.On the occasion of the LVI International Day of Peace. Then, on the same stage, the Pope will celebrate the Eucharist on January 6.. Two days later, on the so-called Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Pope will baptize a group of children of Vatican employees in the Sistine Chapel.

JD / p