On Christmas Day, Pope Francis called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as well as for the release of hostages, adding aid needs to be given to the people “worn out by hunger and by war.”

The pontiff was speaking during his Urbi et Orbi message at the front of St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

The Christmas Urbi et Orbi address, “to the city and the world,” is traditionally a 360-degree review of a pope’s chief global concerns, and this year Francis focused on the rise of violence among nations in the world.

This year, it follows the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening, launching the 2025 Holy Year.

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The Urbi et Orbi address is usually given at Christmas and Easter, as well as after the election of a new pope. However, it can happen when a pope wants, and Francis gave an Urbi et Orbi in March 2020 as the world began to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his address on Wednesday, the pope spoke about the beginning of the Jubilee.

“Brothers and sisters, the door of God’s heart is always open; let us return to him! Let us go back to the heart that loves and forgives us! Let us be forgiven by him; let us be reconciled with him!” Francis said.

“This is the meaning of the Holy Door of the Jubilee, which I opened last night here in Saint Peter’s Basilica: It represents Jesus, the Door of salvation open for all. Jesus is the Door that the Father of mercies has opened in the midst of our world, in the midst of history, so that all of us can return to him. We are all like lost sheep; we need a Shepherd and a Door to return to the house of the Father. Jesus is that Shepherd; Jesus is the Door,” the pontiff continued.

Turning to the situation around the world, Francis called for the “sound of arms” to be silenced in the Middle East.

“In contemplating the Crib of Bethlehem, I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” he said.

“May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war. I express my closeness to the Christian community in Lebanon, especially in the south, and to that in Syria, at this most delicate time,” the pope continued.

Francis then turned to the conflicts affecting the continent of Africa.

“Here I also think of the Libyan people and encourage them to seek solutions that enable national reconciliation,” he said.

“May the birth of the Savior bring a new season of hope to the families of thousands of children who are dying from an outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the people of the East of that country, and of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mozambique. The humanitarian crisis that affects them is caused mainly by armed conflicts and the scourge of terrorism, aggravated by the devastating effects of climate change, resulting in the loss of life and the displacement of millions of people,” continued the pontiff.

“My thoughts also turn to the peoples of the nations of the Horn of Africa, for whom I implore the gifts of peace, concord and fraternity. May the Son of the Most High sustain the efforts of the international community to facilitate access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Sudan and to initiate new negotiations for a ceasefire,” he said.

Francis also called for “the sound of arms be silenced” in war-torn Ukraine, which was suffered a full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022.

“May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace,” the pope said.

In his address, Francis said God’s mercy can do all things.

“It unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge. Come! Jesus is the Door of Peace,” he said.

“Often we halt at the threshold of that Door; we lack the courage to cross it, because it challenges us to examine our lives. Entering through that Door calls for the sacrifice involved in taking a step forward, leaving behind our disputes and divisions, and surrendering ourselves to the outstretched arms of the Child who is the Prince of Peace,” the pope continued.

“This Christmas, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year, I invite every individual, and all peoples and nations, to find the courage needed to walk through that Door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions!” Francis said.

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