VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As millions of pilgrims prepare to cross through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis called on individuals, nations and the global community to take a transformative step toward peace and reconciliation by walking through the "door of salvation" that is Jesus Christ.
"Jesus is the door of peace," he said from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 25. "This Christmas, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year, I invite every individual, and all peoples and nations, to find the courage needed to walk through that door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions!"
Prior to offering his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world), the pope prayed for various countries grappling with conflict and crisis.
Although there was a strong wind, the Roman sun shined brightly on the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray with the pope.
In his Christmas message, Pope Francis called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine, praying for "the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace." Several Ukrainian flags were visible among the throngs of faithful.
Speaking while seated, the pope then prayed for peace in the Middle East, asking that "the doors of dialogue and peace be flung open throughout the region."
"In contemplating the crib of Bethlehem, I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave," he said. "May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war."
The pope also highlighted the plight of Christians in Lebanon and Syria "at this most delicate time." Just over two weeks after the fall of the Assad regime, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Damascus Dec. 24 to protest against anti-Christian sentiment following the burning of a Christmas tree in central Syria.
With the Holy Door standing open beneath him in the basilica, Pope Francis pleaded that the Jubilee be an occasion for global forgiveness, especially for alleviating the financial burdens of the world's poorest nations.
Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, a retired papal diplomat who negotiated debt-relief agreements for the world's poorest countries, stood alongside the pope as he delivered his message from the balcony of the basilica.
Low- and middle-income countries owed a record debt of $8.8 trillion at the end of 2023 -- an 8% increase over 2020 -- according to data from the World Bank, and developing countries spent a record $1.4 trillion to service their foreign debt in that year.
"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 own," the pope said in his Christmas message.
Pope Francis prayed for communities affected by a measles outbreak in Congo, and for those suffering from the humanitarian crises in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique "caused mainly by armed conflicts and the scourge of terrorism" and "aggravated by the devastating effects of climate change."
In the Americas, he asked that Jesus would inspire political authorities and all people "to find as soon as possible effective solutions, in justice and truth, to promote social harmony, particularly in Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua."
"On this festive day, let us not fail to express our gratitude to those who spend themselves, quietly and faithfully, in doing good and in serving others," he added, commending parents, educators, teachers, health care workers, charity workers and missionaries for their contribution to society.
Jesus, Pope Francis said in his message, "is the wide-open door that we are invited to enter, in order to rediscover the meaning of our existence and the sacredness of all life, and to recover the foundational values of the human family."
He prayed that society's most vulnerable members -- children, the elderly, refugees, the unemployed, prisoners and persecuted people -- may meet God at the threshold of that door.
"As pilgrims of hope, let us go out to meet him," he said. "Let us open to him the doors of our hearts, as he has opened to us the door of his heart."
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