Dec. 24 (UPI) — Pope Francis briefly discussed Israel’s war on Palestine during his celebration of the Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, drawing attention to the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. His broader message warned against idolatry and consumerism when celebrating Christmas.
“Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war,” Francis said in reference to Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem. “By the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world.”
Francis condemned “the quest for worldly power and might” and fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of “results and numbers and figures.”
The pope did not name Palestine or Israel by name but, during his weekly Angelus prayer earlier Sunday, said that “we are close to our brothers and sisters who are suffering from war — we are thinking of Palestine, of Israel, of Ukraine.”
His comments came hours after the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees said that at least 142 human rights workers with the organization have been killed in Gaza.
“In this somber moment, it’s hard to wish those celebrating ‘Merry Christmas,’ with ongoing loss, grief and destruction,” the UNRWA said in a statement.
Israel’s war has left Bethlehem subdued with sparse decorations and fanfare. Christians in the West Bank have cancelled public celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The Church of the Nativity, an Evangelical Lutheran Church, is displaying a nativity scene showing the baby Jesus amid rubble.
The Rev. Munther Isaac told Al-Jazeera last week, “If Christ were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble and Israeli shelling. Bethlehem is sad and broken.”
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, sent a Christmas message to Vatican News — the press arm of the Holy See — said the world has “been plunged into a sea of hatred, resentment, revenge, and death.”
