Following his Christmas Eve Mass, Pope Leo XIV expressed deep sorrow for Palestinians in Gaza during his Christmas Day homily at St. Peter's Basilica. He renewed calls for peace amid global conflicts, highlighting the plight of the homeless and youth in wars.
Thousands gathered at St. Peter's Basilica on December 25 for Pope Leo XIV's Christmas Day homily, where he drew parallels between Jesus' birth in a stable and God's presence among the vulnerable.
Building on his Eve Mass appeals for ceasefires—including in Ukraine—and Middle East progress, Leo turned attention to Gaza, mourning war's destruction after the October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Humanitarian aid remains critically low, with nearly all residents displaced.
"The bodies of unprotected people are weak, tested by many wars, ongoing or ended, leaving behind rubble and unhealing wounds," he said. "Weak too are the minds and lives of young people forced to carry weapons, who on the front lines feel the absurdity of what they are asked to do and the lies filling the boastful speeches of those sending them to die."
The pope is later expected to deliver his Urbi et Orbi message addressing global issues.
