Christmas, a time for listening and caring. This is the heart of the new issue of St. Peter’s Squarethe monthly magazine directed by father Enzo Fortunatowhich dedicates the December edition to the mystery of the Holy Night experienced in today’s world. A Christmas told between gift and consumption, but always with an eye towards the poor and the building of peace, remembering the strong words of Pope Leo XIV: “God does not want war and violence”.
The issue opens with a touching letter signed by Anthonya forty-year-old psychologist from Pagani, in the province of Salerno. A life, his, spent alongside the most fragile, in the footsteps of Sant’Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori and San Francesco. In his message to the Pope he confides his daily work alongside young people and families, often crushed – he says – by disturbances, fears and a frantic search for approval that hides insecurity and loneliness. Antonio observes a time when «making a mistake seems like a crime and not succeeding is a total failure»but also recognizes a generation thirsty for God: “a need for those who believe, a hope for those who do not believe”.
And in the midst of so much tiredness, he points to grandparents as those who cherish “the praise of imperfection” and remind everyone of the unique value of each one. Hence his request to the Pontiff: a word capable of “crossing the hearts” of the many young people he accompanies every day.
The Pope’s response
Leo XIV, in his first Christmas as successor of Peter, responds to Anthony by addressing three central themes. First of all, the irreplaceable value of Christian testimony: simple, authentic, rooted in prayer and community life. This, says the Pope, is the most effective way to help young people encounter Christ and discover the beauty of feeling “continuously loved by God”.
The Pontiff then invites us to live Christmas in sobriety and charity: «Let’s avoid doping shopping»he writes with incisive words, so that gifts do not become objects to be collected, but signs of hope. And he proposes a concrete gesture, capable of giving meaning to the celebration: “Let’s invite a poor family, or even just a single person, to Christmas dinner.” Material and existential poverty remains, he recalls, “an urgency that cannot be postponed”, as also reiterated in the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi you.
Newman, beacon for young people
Finally, Pope Leo XIV points out to young people the luminous example of St John Henry Newmanrecently proclaimed Doctor of the Church. A master of dialogue and education, Newman, the Pope underlines, can help dispel “the darkness of nihilism” and lay the foundations for a true “civilization of peace”.
The Pope concludes by assuring his prayers for Antonio and encouraging him not to be discouraged in his educational mission. To the readers of St. Peter’s Squarefinally, he sends a wish full of hope for a Christmas lived in the light of the Gospel.
The cover of the December issue is dedicated to children, with a special reference to the Pontiff’s thoughts for the little ones, after the announcement, last November 19, of the second World Children’s Day, which will be held in Rome from 25 to 27 September 2026.
