B.modesty and the little things: on Christmas Eve Pope Francis urged people not only to strive for success, but to be humble. “Let’s not cry for the size that we don’t have. Let’s stop whining and long faces and let go of greed that always leaves us unsatisfied, ”said the head of the Catholic Church on Friday evening during Christmas mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The pontiff preached that people wanted to climb onto a pedestal and make it big while God showed himself to the world in humility.
In his address, the Pope particularly emphasized the poor working people. It is important to give people dignity through work, he said. Let them be the master and not the slave of work. “On the day we celebrate the coming of life, let’s say again: no more deaths at work. Let us stand up for it, ”demanded Francis.
For the 85-year-old, it was another Christmas under Corona conditions. In St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, around 2,000 believers and church representatives sat around the central papal altar, as the Holy See confirmed in the evening. At 13 degrees and a gray sky, a few hundred people celebrated Holy Night in front of the basilica on St.
Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem without pilgrims
Last year, Francis celebrated with only a few dozen people. Although significantly more people were allowed in this year, they had to keep the minimum distance and wear masks. According to Vatican experts, the Pope is unlikely to be satisfied with the more limited celebrations. In the years before Corona, he celebrated the important day for practicing Catholics in the church year for the birth of Jesus Christ with thousands.
Humility seemed to have been important to the Argentine this year. Francis called for this at the traditional Christmas reception of the Roman Curia – the Vatican church administration – on Thursday. “Only when we serve and understand our work as service can we really be useful to everyone,” he explained to the cardinals and curial bishops.
Elsewhere in the Holy Land, traditional Christmas celebrations began on Friday. The Christmas procession arrived in Bethlehem in the West Bank in the afternoon in cold weather. The head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was greeted by numerous local visitors and religious dignitaries in the Manger Square in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The patriarch, dressed in a pink robe, left Jerusalem in a convoy at noon. Before his arrival, Boy Scouts marched through the streets of Bethlehem to drum music. Many of them played the trumpet or the bagpipes.
For the second time in a row, the celebrations are taking place under Corona restrictions. In order to curb the spread of the omicron variant of the corona virus, Israel closed the borders to foreigners again at the beginning of the month. That is why the Christmas celebrations take place without tourists and pilgrims again this year.
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