He did so during his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas Day.
The Pope Francisco He called for dialogue on Saturday to counteract the tendency to close in on himself caused by the covid-19 pandemic, which marked Christmas for billions of people for the second consecutive year.
In its traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas day, the Supreme Pontiff reminded the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square that “in this time of pandemic (…) our capacity for social relations is put to the test, the tendency to close down, to fend for oneself, is reinforced, to give up going out, to meet, to collaborate ”.
“Also in the international arena there is the risk of not wanting to dialogue, the risk that the complexity of the crisis will induce to choose shortcuts, instead of the slower paths of dialogue,” he added.
As is traditional, the pope recalled the areas of the world plagued by conflict and also addressed the economic and social consequences of the health crisis, which casts a shadow over Christmas for the second year in a row.
Francis asked that “the metastasis of a gangrenous conflict” not be allowed to spread in Ukraine, due to the tensions between Kiev and Moscow, which raise fears of a military escalation.
Y recalled the “forgotten” tragedies of the conflict in Yemen and Syria, which “has caused many victims and an incalculable number of refugees.”
On Friday night, the 85-year-old pope celebrated the traditional Christmas mass in Rome’s St. Peter’s basilica before 2,000 faithful with mask, and invited Christians to “rediscover the little things in life.”
In the city of Bethlehem, in the occupied Palestinian territories, just a few hundred people gathered despite the cold in Manger Square, the place where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus of Nazareth was born, to follow a parade of scouts Palestinians.
And in the Philippines, in addition to the covid, the faithful had to deal with the effects of destructive typhoon that struck this Southeast Asian archipelago last week, leaving nearly 400 dead and tens of thousands homeless.
In a church with a large hole in the ceiling and floor and flooded benches, Father Ricardo Virtudazo presided over a Christmas mass for dozens of people who only wanted a roof, food and a benign time for Christmas.
“The important thing is that all of us are safe”Says Joy Parera, 31, at a Christmas mass with her husband at the San Isidro Labrador parish church in the municipality of Alegria, in the north of Mindanao island. (I)
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