Pope Francis addresses Ukraine, Middle East in Christmas Day message: ‘May the sound of weapons be silenced’

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Pope Francis delivered his annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Christmas message and blessing from the Vatican on Wednesday, calling for peace around the globe and an end to ongoing conflicts.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church mentioned the war between Russia and Ukraine directly and called for “the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation” during the address that serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year.

“May the sound of weapons be silenced in Ukraine,” Francis said from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below. He also called for “gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

Francis, 88, is celebrating the 12th Christmas of his pontificate by calling for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

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Pope Francis delivers the Christmas’ day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Francis, who has been pope since 2013, was criticized by Ukrainian officials this year when he said the country should have the courage of the “white flag” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously ruled out engaging in peace talks without the restoration of Ukraine’s pre-war borders. But Zelenskyy has shown an increasing willingness in the weeks since Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. president to enter negotiations.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a briefing with the press on July 8, 2023, in Lviv, Ukraine.  (Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Francis, who has recently grown more critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, also renewed his call for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas war and for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

He called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “extremely grave” and asked for “the doors of dialogue and peace (to) be flung open.”

Demonstrators and relatives of hostages taken by Hamas during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel protest on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., July 23, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Christmas marked the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million Catholics to Rome, according to the Associated Press.

Pilgrims lined up early Wednesday to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. 

Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

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On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first to walk through it, inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee that he dedicated to hope.

A Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.