Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday advised all people of all countries to discover courage throughout this Holy Year to silence the noises of arms and conquer departments plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.The pontiffs Urbi et Orbi To the City and the World address works as a summary of the concerns facing the world this year.
As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he devoted to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, even (with) our enemies.I welcome every person, and all people of all nations ...
to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the noises of arms and get rid of divisions, the pope stated from the loggia of St.
Peters Basilica to crowds of people below.The pope invoked the Holy Door of St.
Peters Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to introduce the 2025 Jubilee, as representing Gods mercy, which unties every knot; it take down every wall of division; it resolves hatred and the spirit of revenge.He required arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine and in the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian scenario is extremely grave, in addition to Lebanon and Syria at this most fragile time.Francis repeated his calls for the release of captives drawn from Israel by Hamas on Oct.
7, 2023.
He pointed out a lethal outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the suffering of individuals of Myanmar, required to leave their homes by the continuous clash of arms.
The pope also remembered children experiencing war and cravings, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their tasks, and are persecuted for their faith.Pilgrims were lined up on Christmas Day to stroll through the terrific Holy Door at the entryway of St.
Peters Basilica, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.Traversing the Holy Door is one manner in which the faithful can get indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300.
Pilgrims sent to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amidst new security worries following a fatal Christmas market attack in Germany.
Lots of paused to touch the door as they passed and made the indication of the cross upon getting in the basilica dedicated to St.
Peter, the creator of the Roman Catholic Church.You feel so modest when you go through the door that once you go through is nearly like a release, a release of emotions, said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego.
...
Its nearly like a release of feelings, you seem like now you have the ability to release and put whatever in the hands of God.
See I am getting psychological.
Its simply a beautiful experience.A Chrismukkah wonder as Hanukkah and Christmas coincideHanukkah, Judaisms eight-day Festival of Lights, starts this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times given that 1900.
The calendar confluence has actually motivated some religious leaders to host interfaith events, such as a Hanukkah celebration hosted last week by several Jewish companies in Houston, Texas, combining members of the citys Latino and Jewish neighborhoods for latkes, the standard potato pancake consumed on Hanukkah, topped with guacamole and salsa.While Hanukkah is planned as a positive, celebratory vacation, rabbis note that its happening this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears rise over widespread occurrences of antisemitism.
The holidays overlap occasionally due to the fact that the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec.
25.
The last time Hanukkah started on Christmas Day remained in 2005.
Iraqi Christians persist in their faithChristians in Nineveh Plains went to Christmas Mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georgis church in the center of Telaskaf, Iraq, with security issues about the future.
We feel that they will pull the rug out from under our feet at any time.
Our fate is unidentified here, said Bayda Nadhim, a homeowner of Telaskaf.Iraqs Christians, whose presence there returns nearly to the time of Christ, belong to a number of rites and denominations.
They as soon as constituted a significant minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.But the community has steadily diminished given that the 2003 US-led intrusion and even more in 2014 when the Islamic State militant group swept through the location.
The precise number of Christians left in Iraq is uncertain, but they are believed to number numerous hundred thousand.German events silenced by market attackGerman events were darkened by a cars and truck attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that left 5 people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 individuals hurt.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to resolve the attack, stating that there is sorrow, discomfort, scary and incomprehension over what occurred in Magdeburg.
He prompted Germans to stand together which hate and violence must not have the last word.A 50-year-old Saudi physician who had practiced medication in Germany considering that 2006 was detained on suspicion of murder, tried murder and physical harm.
The suspects X account describes him as a former Muslim and is filled with anti-Islamic styles.
He slammed authorities for stopping working to combat the Islamification of Germany and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.Source: AP-- Agencies