Vatican City, 25 December 2014 (VIS) –
At midday today, the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Pope
gave his traditional Christmas message from the central balcony of
the Vatican Basilica and imparted the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy
Christmas!
“Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour
of the world, is born for us, born in Bethlehem of a Virgin,
fulfilling the ancient prophecies. The Virgin’s name is Mary, the
wife of Joseph.
“Humble people, full of hope in the
goodness of God, are those who welcome Jesus and recognise him. And
so the Holy Spirit enlightened the shepherds of Bethlehem, who
hastened to the grotto and adored the Child. Then the Spirit led the
elderly and humble couple Simeon and Anna into the temple of
Jerusalem, and they recognised in Jesus the Messiah. 'My eyes have
seen your salvation', Simeon exclaimed, 'the salvation prepared by
God in the sight of all peoples'.
“Yes, brothers and sisters, Jesus is
the salvation for every person and for every people!
Today I ask him, the Saviour of the
world, to look upon our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria, who
for too long now have suffered the effects of ongoing conflict, and
who, together with those belonging to other ethnic and religious
groups, are suffering a brutal persecution. May Christmas bring them
hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons, exiles and
refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and from the
whole world. May indifference be changed into closeness and rejection
into hospitality, so that all who now are suffering may receive the
necessary humanitarian help to overcome the rigours of winter, return
to their countries and live with dignity. May the Lord open hearts to
trust, and may he bestow his peace upon the whole Middle East,
beginning with the land blessed by his birth, thereby sustaining the
efforts of those committed effectively to dialogue between Israelis
and Palestinians.
“May Jesus, Saviour of the world,
protect all who suffer in Ukraine, and grant that their beloved land
may overcome tensions, conquer hatred and violence, and set out on a
new journey of fraternity and reconciliation.
“May Christ the Saviour give peace to
Nigeria, where more blood is being shed and too many people are
unjustly deprived of their possessions, held as hostages or killed. I
invoke peace also on the other parts of the African continent,
thinking especially of Libya, South Sudan, the Central African
Republic, and various regions of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. I beseech all who have political responsibility to commit
themselves through dialogue to overcoming differences and to building
a lasting, fraternal coexistence.
“May Jesus save the vast numbers of
children who are victims of violence, made objects of trade and
trafficking, or forced to become soldiers; children, so many abused
children. May he give comfort to the families of the children killed
in Pakistan last week. May he be close to all who suffer from
illness, especially the victims of the Ebola epidemic, above all in
Liberia, in Sierra Leone and in Guinea. As I thank all who are
courageously dedicated to assisting the sick and their family
members, I once more make an urgent appeal that the necessary
assistance and treatment be provided.
“The Child Jesus. My thoughts turn to
all those children today who are killed and ill-treated, be they
infants killed in the womb, deprived of that generous love of their
parents and then buried in the egoism of a culture that does not love
life; be they children displaced due to war and persecution, abused
and taken advantage of before our very eyes and our complicit
silence. I think also of those infants massacred in bomb attacks,
also those where the Son of God was born. Even today, their impotent
silence cries out under the sword of so many Herods. On their blood
stands the shadow of contemporary Herods. Truly there are so many
tears this Christmas, together with the tears of the Infant Jesus.
“Dear brothers and sisters, may the
Holy Spirit today enlighten our hearts, that we may recognise in the
Infant Jesus, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary, the salvation
given by God to each one of us, to each man and woman and to all the
peoples of the earth. May the power of Christ, which brings freedom
and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by war, persecution
and slavery. May this divine power, by its meekness, take away the
hardness of heart of so many men and women immersed in worldliness
and indifference, the globalisation of indifference. May his
redeeming strength transform arms into ploughshares, destruction into
creativity, hatred into love and tenderness. Then we will be able to
cry out with joy: 'Our eyes have seen your salvation'.
“With these thoughts I wish you all a
Happy Christmas!”
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