In the 12th Christmas ceremony of his pontificate, the 88-year-old pope knocked several times on the heavy bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, and aides then opened them from the inside.
He paused for a moment in silent prayer sitting on the threshold of the door, and when it opened, the Pope entered the basilica.
Francis said at the midnight mass that the story of Jesus’ birth as the son of a poor carpenter should inspire hope that all people can influence the world.
In a sermon focused on the virtue of hope, which is also the theme of the Holy Year, he said that hope “is a call not to retain old habits and not to wallow in mediocrity or laziness.”
“Hope invites us to be upset about things that are wrong and to find the courage to change them,” he said, according to Hina.
The Pope also reiterated an earlier call for developed nations to use the Jubilee to reduce the debt burden faced by low-income countries.
The jubilee calls us to spiritual renewal and obliges us to transform our world, the Pope said.
“The time of the jubilee is dedicated to poor countries burdened with unjust debts and to all those who are trapped in the old or new form of slavery,” he pointed out.
The call for direct debt write-off sent by the late Pope John Paul II. during Jubilee 2000, he instigated a campaign that resulted in $130 billion in debt forgiveness between 2000 and 2015.
The papal mass was followed by thousands in St. Peter’s Basilica and thousands more believers who watched it in the square.
Every 25 years, the Catholic Church celebrates a special Holy Year known as the Jubilee Year, which ends on January 6, 2026.
During the jubilee, the Catholic faithful can obtain forgiveness for their sins through prayer and penance, which includes a pilgrimage to Rome and passing through the Holy Door.
(Vijesti.ba)
