Pope Leo XIV has delivered his first Christmas Day homily, remembering the people of Gazabeing “exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold” and saying the world’s conflicts can only be silenced through dialogue. Leo led the Christmas Day mass from the central altar beneath the balustrade of St Peter’s Basilica, adorned with floral garlands and clusters of red poinsettias. White flowers were set at the feet of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day. Recalling that God was made flesh through Jesus’s birth in a manger in Bethlehem, Leo likened God’s word to “a fragile tent among us”. Thousands of people packed the basilica for the Pope’s first Christmas Day mass, raising their smartphones to capture images of the opening procession.

Source: Irish Examiner December 25, 2025 12:04 UTC