On Christmas Day, Pope calls for talks to end Ukraine war

ODE TO HOPE Pope Francis, in his homily during Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, highlights the virtue of hope which he says is “a call to be upset with things that are wrong and to find the courage to change them.” —AP

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Wednesday called for talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war that followed Moscow’s full-scale invasion two years ago and has killed tens of thousands.

In his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) address, Francis mentioned the Ukraine conflict directly and called for “the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation.”

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

Earlier criticism

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 prewar borders. But Zelenskyy has shown an increasing willingness in the weeks since Donald Trump’s reelection as US president to enter negotiations.

Earlier in December, Zelenskyy raised the idea of a diplomatic settlement that would involve a “freezing” of the current battle lines and the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine. Russia has demanded that Ukraine abandon its ambitions to join the Nato military alliance.

At the beginning of the Mass, Francis oversees the opening of a special bronze-paneled “Holy Door” at St. Peter’s to kick off the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, during which pilgrims can obtain special indulgences, or remission of their sins. —AP

12th as pontiff

The 88-year-old Francis, celebrating the 12th Christmas of his pontificate, called for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Francis, who has recently grown more critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, describing it last week as “cruelty,” also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war and for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Jubilee year

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

Francis opened a Holy Year for the global Catholic Church on Tuesday evening, Christmas Eve, which will run through Jan. 6, 2026. A Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon.

On Wednesday, the pope said the Jubilee year should be a time for “every individual, and all peoples and nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions.”

Francis also said it should be a time “to tear down all walls of separation.”