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Pope Christmas Message Offers Hope in World Hit by Terrorism, War | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Pope Francis kneels as he leads the Christmas night Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican December 24, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile


Pope Francis hoped for peace on Sunday through a Christmas message where he wished for love in a world teared by war and terrorism, urging people to remember migrants, refugees and those hit by economic instability caused by “idolatry of money”.

Francis, on the fourth Christmas season since his election in 2013, urged Palestinians and Israelis, to “write a new page of history” and to put hate and revenge aside.

“Peace to those who have lost a person dear to them as a result of brutal acts of terrorism, which have sown fear and death into the hearts of so many countries and cities,” he told some 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“Today this message (of peace) goes out to the ends of the earth to reach all peoples, especially those scarred by war and harsh conflicts that seem stronger than the yearning for peace,” he said, speaking in Italian from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis called for peace in Syria, stressing immediate help to the drained population of the city of Aleppo, which Syrian regime forces recaptured last week after four years of devastating fighting with rebels.

“It is time for weapons to be still forever (in Syria), and the international community to actively seek a negotiated solution, so that civil co-existence can be restored in the country,” he said.

Francis also urged people to think of the needy and less fortunate including but not limited-to refugees and migrants.

“Peace to the peoples who suffer because of the economic ambitions of the few, because of the sheer greed and the idolatry of money, which leads to slavery,” he said.