Pope Francis’ Christmas Message: “Let the Weapons Be Silent”

Pope Francis, the Pope of the Vatican, renewed his call for a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

In his Christmas message, titled “For the City of Rome and the World,” the Pope described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “very grave” and called for “opening the doors of dialogue and peace wide,” according to Reuters.

The Pope has become increasingly critical of the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, describing it last week as “brutal.”

He also called for facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid to Sudan, where a United Nations-backed report on Tuesday confirmed that famine is spreading amid the fierce ongoing war that has lasted for 20 months.

In his Christmas message, the Holy Father said: “May Almighty God bless the efforts of the international community to enhance access to humanitarian aid for civilians in Sudan and initiate new negotiations for a ceasefire” between the military and the Rapid Support Forces.

In the same vein, the Pope called for an end to the war in “long-suffering Ukraine,” nearly three years after the start of the Russian invasion, urging the “opening of doors” for negotiations to achieve a just peace.

He said: “Let the weapons be silent in suffering Ukraine! And let us have the courage to open the door to negotiations and dialogue to reach a just and lasting peace,” in a message that came hours after a large-scale missile attack launched by Russia, which Ukrainian officials claimed targeted, in particular, energy facilities.