Billions of people in the world celebrate this Saturday the Christmas, tarnished for the second year in a row by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially by the explosion of infections due to the contagious variant omicron.
Unmissable appointment every December 25, Pope Francis will offer his Urbi et Orbi blessing from St. Peter’s Square at noon.
The 85-year-old Argentine pontiff presided over the traditional Christmas mass in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday night before 2,000 faithful with masks. Francis invited Christians to “rediscover the little things in life.”
Ambassadors and representatives of other Christian confessions attended this ceremony held in several languages in the presence of more than 200 priests, bishops and cardinals.
Some dozens of people who could not get a ticket followed the mass on giant screens installed in St. Peter’s Square.
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 the destructive typhoon that hit this Southeast Asian archipelago last week, leaving almost 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 in the church of the parish of San Isidro Labrador in the municipality of Alegria, in the north of the island of Mindanao. .
Disturbed travel
China reported 140 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the highest number in four months, most in the city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province (northwest), where 13 million inhabitants have been confined since Thursday.
In addition, the pandemic caused disruptions in travel and according to the air tracking website Flightaware.com, companies canceled more than 4,500 flights worldwide, hundreds of them in the United States, due to the expansion of the omicron variant of the covid -19.
Even so, millions of Americans traveled the country, despite the fact that the number of daily infections by omicron already exceeded that of the delta and that hospitals began to saturate.
Although in general it has been more relaxed than in 2020, Christmas has not been immune to this peak of infections, with a multiplication of restrictions in many places.
The Netherlands are confined, Spain and Greece introduced mandatory masks outdoors and Ecuador applied since Christmas Eve the obligation to be vaccinated for the entire population over 5 years of age.
Still, in some places they have been able to relish the long-forgotten Christmas spirit. Most Australians were able to travel around the country again and reunite with their relatives after a long time.
Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher recalled “moving scenes of people reuniting at airports after months of separation.”
Santa Claus in Rio
The pandemic has killed at least 5’385,564 people worldwide since the end of 2019, according to an AFP count from official sources on Friday, although the WHO estimates that the real balance may be two or three times. higher.
The appearance of omicron has accelerated infections in almost all regions of the world in the last week, except in the Middle East and Asia, according to AFP data.
But border closures have not prevented a famous reindeer-powered sleigh from going around the globe.
Although in some places, such as Rio de Janeiro, Santa Claus parked his sleigh and arrived by helicopter to deliver food packages to the inhabitants of the Penha favela.
“Children look at me, smile, play, talk. They feel represented by seeing a black Santa Claus, ”said Leonardo Pereira da Silva, a 30-year-old resident of the favela and a member of the NGO Central Unicas das Favelas.
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Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
