AP, VATICAN CITYPope Francis on Wednesday offered a Christmas message of hope against darkness that cloaks conflicts and relationships in large parts of the world, from the Middle East to the Americas and Africa. The pope told tens of thousands of tourists, pilgrims and Romans gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the annual Christmas Day message that “the light of Christ is greater” than the darkness “in human hearts” and “in economic, geopolitical and ecological conflicts.”The traditional Urbi et Orbi (“To the city and to the world”) Christmas message has become an occasion for popes to address suffering in the world and press for solutions. Francis was flanked by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Apostolic Almoner. Once migrants arrive in “places where they might have hoped for a dignified life,” they “instead find themselves before walls of indifference,” he said. The religious leaders offered assurances “of our spiritual closeness as you strive for a swift implementation” of peace agreements and prayers “for a renewed commitment to the path of reconciliation and fraternity.”

Source: Taipei Times December 26, 2019 15:56 UTC