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Illustration: Jules Bastien-Lepage, The Annunciation to the Shepherds, 1875
Pope Francis’ “urbi et orbi” message
Christmas 2024
Central Loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica
Wednesday, 25 December 2024
“The Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God,
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger”
Dear sisters and brothers
The Gospel of Luke Chapter 2
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin′i-us was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. 7 And she gave birth to her first-born[a] son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; 11 for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”[b 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
This is the mystery that never ceases to amaze and move us. It was renewed on this Christmas night.
This is how the shepherds of Bethlehem found him, filled with joy as the angels sang: “Glory to God and peace among men”. Peace among men and women.
This event, which took place more than two thousand years ago, has indeed been renewed, thanks to the Holy Spirit.
It is the same Spirit of love and life, who made Mary’s womb fruitful – and from her human flesh formed Jesus.
Today, in the midst of the travail of our times, the eternal Word of salvation is once again truly made incarnate, and speaks to every man and woman, to the whole world.
This is the message: “I love you, I forgive you; come back to me, the door of my heart is open for you!”
Brothers and sisters, the door of God’s heart is always open; let us return to it!
Let us return to the heart that loves and forgives us! Let us be forgiven by him; let us be reconciled with him! God always forgives! God forgives everything. Let us allow ourselves to be forgiven by him.
This is the meaning of the Holy Door of the Jubilee, which I inaugurated last night here in St. Peter’s Basilica: it represents Jesus, the door of salvation open for all.
Jesus is the door; that the Father of mercy has opened in the midst of our world, in the midst of history, so that we can all return to him.
We are all like lost sheep; we need a shepherd and a door to return to the house of the Father.
Jesus is that shepherd; Jesus is the door.
Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid!
The door is open, the door is wide open!
There is no need to knock on the door. It is open.
Come! Let us be reconciled with God, and then we will be reconciled with ourselves and we will. be able to be reconciled with one another, even our enemies.
God’s mercy can do everything!
It unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division;
God’s mercy dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge. Come! Jesus is the Door of Peace.
Often we stop at the threshold of this door; we lack the courage to go through it, because it challenges us to examine our lives.
Entering through that door requires the sacrifice of taking a step forward, a small sacrifice.
Taking a step towards something so great calls us to leave behind our quarrels and divisions and to surrender ourselves to the outstretched arms of the Child who is the Prince of Peace.
This Christmas, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year, I invite every one of us, and as well as all peoples and nations, to find the courage to go through that Door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and to overcome divisions!
May the sound of guns be silenced in war-torn Ukraine!
May there be the necessary courage to open the door to negotiations and gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.
May the sound of bombs be silenced in the Middle East!
As I contemplate the manger of Bethlehem, I think of the Christian communities in Palestine and in Israel especially the dear community in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely serious.
May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and may aid be given to the people who are exhausted by hunger and war.
I express my closeness to the Christian community in Lebanon, especially in the south, and to that of Syria, at this most delicate time.
May the doors of dialogue and peace be opened throughout the region, devastated by conflict.
Here I also think of the Libyan people and encourage them to seek solutions that enable national reconciliation.
May the birth of the Savior bring a new season of hope to the families of thousands of children who are dying from an outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the people of the East of that country, and those in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique.
The humanitarian crises they are facing are mainly caused by armed conflicts and the scourge of terrorism, aggravated by the devastating effects of climate change, resulting in the loss of life and the displacement of millions of people.
My thoughts also turn to the peoples of the nations of the Horn of Africa, for whom I implore the gifts of peace, concord and fraternity.
May the Son of the Most High sustain the efforts of the international community to facilitate access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Sudan and to initiate new negotiations for a ceasefire.
May the proclamation of Christmas bring comfort to the people of Myanmar, who are suffering greatly as a result of the ongoing armed conflict and who have been forced to flee their homes.
May the Child Jesus inspire the political authorities and all people of good will in the Americas to find effective solutions as soon as possible, in justice and truth, to promote social harmony, especially in Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua.
May they work, especially during this Jubilee Year, to promote the common good and respect the dignity of each person, overcoming political divisions.
May the Jubilee be an opportunity to tear down all the walls of division: the ideological walls that so often mark political life, and also the physical walls, such as the division that has afflicted the island of Cyprus for fifty years, tearing its human and social fabric.
I hope that a consensual solution will be found, a solution that can put an end to the division in full respect of the rights and dignity of all Cypriot communities.
Jesus, the eternal Word of God made flesh, is the wide-open door;
he is the wide-open Door through which we are invited to enter, in order to rediscover the meaning of our existence and the sacredness of all life – for every life is sacred – and to recover the fundamental values of the human family. He is waiting for us at the threshold.
He is waiting for each one of us, especially the most vulnerable.
He is waiting for the children, all those children who suffer from war and hunger.
He is waiting for the elderly, so often forced to live in conditions of solitude and abandonment.
He is waiting for those who have lost their homes or are fleeing their homelands in an effort to find a safe haven.
He is waiting for all those who have lost their jobs or are unable to find work.
He is waiting for prisoners who, everything notwithstanding, are still children of God, always children of God.
He is waiting for all those – and there are many of them – who suffer persecution for their faith.
On this festive day, let us not fail to express our gratitude to those who devote themselves, quietly and faithfully, in doing good and in serving others.
I think of parents, educators and teachers, who have the great responsibility of shaping future generations.
I think too of health care workers, law enforcement officers and all those men and women who carry out works of charity, especially missionaries throughout the world: they bring light and comfort to so many people in difficulty.
To all of them we want to say: Thank you!
Brothers and sisters, may the Jubilee be an occasion to forgive debts, especially those that burden the poorest countries.
Each of us is called to forgive those who have trespassed against us, because the Son of God, born in the cold and darkness of the night, has forgiven our trespasses.
He came to heal us and to forgive us.
Let us go out to meet him as pilgrims of hope!
Let us open to him the doors of our hearts.
Let us open to him the doors of our hearts, as he has opened the door of his heart to us.
I wish everyone a happy and blessed Christmas.
