Pope calls for unity against IS atrocities

Pope Francis AP Photo

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis urged the world in his Christmas message on Friday to unite to end atrocities by Islamist militants that he said were causing immense suffering in many countries.

Security was tight at the Vatican as Francis, marking the third Christmas since his election in 2013, read his traditional Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and to the world) address from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Tens of thousands of people had to have their bags checked as they entered the Vatican area and then go through airport-style screening if they wanted to enter St. Peter’s Square.

Counterterrorist police with machine guns discreetly patrolled the area in unmarked vans with dark windows.

Islamic State atrocities

Francis issued a plenary indulgence for Catholics in hopes of spreading the Church’s message of mercy in a world torn by war, poverty and extremist attacks.

An indulgence is an ancient church tradition related to the forgiveness of sins.

After calling for an end to the civil wars in Syria and Libya, the Pope said: “May the attention of the international community be unanimously directed to ending the atrocities which in those countries, as well as in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa, even now reap numerous victims, cause immense suffering and do not even spare the historical and cultural patrimony of entire peoples.”

He was clearly referring to Islamic State (IS) group militants who have carried out numerous attacks in those countries and destroyed many cultural heritage sites.

In October, IS militants blew up the Arch of Triumph, a jewel in the exquisite collection of ruins in the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra.

The Pontiff condemned recent “brutal acts of terrorism,” including the Nov. 13 attacks by Islamist militants that killed 130 people in Paris, and the downing of a Russian plane over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula that killed 224 people on Oct. 31. Both were claimed by IS.

“Only God’s mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst,” he said. “The grace of God can convert hearts and offer mankind a way out of humanly insoluble situations.”

Francis called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the area where Jesus was born.

“Where peace is born, there is no longer room for hatred and for war. Yet precisely where the incarnate Son of God came into the world, tensions and violence persist, and peace remains a gift to be implored and built,” he said.

He asked God to bring consolation and strength to Christians who are being persecuted around the world and called for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, South Sudan and Ukraine.

Francis said the human dignity of far too many people around the world was trampled on, including that of refugees and migrants.

“Even today great numbers of men and women are deprived of their human dignity and, like the child Jesus, suffer cold, poverty, and rejection,” he said.

“May our closeness today be felt by those who are most vulnerable, especially child soldiers, women who suffer violence, and the victims of human trafficking and the drug trade.”

Return to simple values

At his Christmas Eve Mass, the Pope urged the faithful to reject the materialism that pervades the gift-giving season, and to embrace “simple, balanced” values, while violence subdued festivities in the Holy Land.

Addressing crowds at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pontiff called on Christians everywhere to push back against the excesses of modern society, which he said was “so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism.”

Christianity calls on believers “to act soberly—in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential,” Francis said.

Condemning a “culture of indifference which not infrequently turns ruthless,” the Pope asked Catholics to combine prayer with an attitude of “empathy, compassion and mercy” after a year of global unrest that saw 1 million migrants and refugees, mostly from Syria, reach Europe in search of a better life.

Amid an unusually heavy security presence in St. Peter’s Square over fears of a jihadist attack, the visibly pale Pope, who has been suffering from the flu, in a hoarse voice called on believers to resist fear.

“In a world which all too often is merciless to the sinner and lenient to the sin, we need to cultivate a strong sense of justice, to discern and to do God’s will,” the Argentine Pontiff said. Reports from the wires