Just like during Holy Week, Christmas of 2020 was marked by the pandemic. Once again, the main Vatican ceremonies were held in a practically empty St. Peter's Basilica.
Despite this, Pope Francis did not focus his Midnight Mass homily on the pandemic.
POPE FRANCIS
The Son of God was born an outcast in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love. To discover something important: as he did in Bethlehem, so too with us, God loves to work wonders through our poverty.
In his speech to the world, before the Urbi et Orbi blessing, he did speak about the pandemic, but only to address the issue of vaccines.
POPE FRANCISCO
I ask everyone – government leaders, businesses, international organizations – to foster cooperation and not competition, and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet. Before all others: the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
The Christmas speech is usually the occasion when the pope reminds the world of the main ongoing conflicts. This is why he cited one by one the conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe. He also mentioned persecuted minorities such as the Rohingya and the suffering of the people in countries such as Venezuela.
Javier Romero
Translation: Christian Campos
