Pope Francis' Christmas speech laments 'severe famine of peace'

Pope Francis urged tens of thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square to pray for Ukraine and for others suffering in conflict around the world.

Pope Francis used his Christmas address from a balcony overlooking a crowded St. Peter's Square on Sunday to call for "concrete gestures of solidarity" with the beleaguered Ukrainians who live the holiday "in the dark and cold, far from home due to the devastation caused by 10 months of war. by a "serious famine of peace", Francis meditated in his 10th Urbi and Orbi - or "to the city and the world" - the Christmas blessing on the birth of Jesus as a symbol of peace.

Francis, who turned 86 last week last and now switches from a wheelchair to a cane during public appearances, urged the tens of thousands of worshipers in the square to "follow re this road "far from a" world closed in on itself and oppressed by the darkness of enmity and war, towards a world open and free to live in brotherhood and peace". Speaking specifically of the suffering in Ukraine caused by Russia's unprovoked invasion, he called on God to "enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of guns and bring an immediate end to this senseless war ".

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">He did not mention the name of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Francis now regularly speaks out against the war, but it took him a long time to find his voice.

Driven by the hope of maintaining the traditional aversion of the Vatican to choose conflicting sides to potentially play a role in a possible peace brokerage, as well as an ingrained anti-NATO bias in some corners of the Vatican, Francis carefully avoided naming Mr. Putin, or even Russia herself, as the aggressor. It wasn't until late August, amid speculation whether the pope was risking his moral authority, that the Vatican issued a statement saying "full-scale war in Ukraine" had been "initiated by the Russian Federation". He insisted that Francis' condemnation was "unequivocal". Irpin, Ukraine. The area was badly damaged during the first weeks of the Russian invasion. Dugina, a 29-year-old Russian ultranationalist who spoke out in favor of invading Ukraine, was an "innocent" victim after she was killed in a car bomb attack. In September, Francis, who is a constant critic of the arms trade, said it was acceptable for countries to supply arms to Ukraine so that the country could defend itself. Self-defense in the face of aggression, Francis said at the time, was "not only legal, but also an expression of love of country".

More recently he spoke of the "beaten Ukrainian people", but then, in a November interview with the Jesuit magazine America, he said he received "a lot of information about the cruelty of the troops" during the war in Ukraine. p>

But despite numerous public reports and investigations into the behavior of Russian troops, including massacres, Francis added: "As a rule, the most cruel, perhaps , are those who are...