Pray for peace, the Pope. On Boxing Day he relaunches his support for the Caritas internationalis campaign for the forgiveness of the debt of poor countries, to transform “debt into hope”. Because the issue of poverty is closely linked to wars. «Stop colonizing peoples with weapons», says Francis, «let us work for disarmament, against hunger, against diseases, against child labor and let us pray for peace throughout the world». Mention Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Myanmar. He encourages pilgrims to cross the Holy Door precisely to build peace and brotherhood.
To his Jewish friends, who began the “festival of lights”, Hanukkah, on the evening of the 25th, he sends his best wishes for “peace and brotherhood”.
And, again, he returns to talk about the opening of the Holy Door in Rebibbia, “a cathedral of pain and hope”.
Previously he had commented on the martyrdom of Saint Stephen to underline the theme of forgiveness. THE first Christian martyr, explains the Pope, «dying, prays for his killers. This makes us reflect: in fact, even if at first sight Stephen seems to be helplessly subjected to violence, in reality, as a truly free man, he continues to love even his killers and to offer his life for them, like Jesus, he offers his life because may they repent and, forgiven, may have eternal life as a gift.” Stephen, Francis insists, “appears to us as a witness of that God who has only one great desire: ‘That all men be saved'”. And therefore, never forget that «Stefano is a witness to that Father who wants good and only good for each of his children, always; the Father who excludes no one, the Father who never tires of seeking them and welcoming them back when, after having moved away, they return repentant to Him. The Father who never tires of forgiving, remember this: God always forgives and God forgives everything” .
And even today there are many martyrs in the world, «many men and women persecuted, sometimes to the point of death, because of the Gospel. What we said about Stefano also applies to them. They do not allow themselves to be killed out of weakness, nor to defend an ideology, but to make everyone participate in the gift of salvation they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ. And they do it primarily for the sake of their killers, and they pray for them. A beautiful example was left to us by Blessed Christian de Chergé, a martyr of our time, who called his killer a “last minute friend”. In their footsteps we too must ask ourselves if we are capable of wanting the good of those who make us suffer and if we really care about many of our brothers and sisters persecuted for their faith.”