Pope Urges ‘All People of All Nations’ to Silence Arms and Overcome Divisions in Christmas Address

Pope Francis leads the traditional Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day blessing from the central balcony of Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican City, 25 December 2024. (EPA)
Pope Francis leads the traditional Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day blessing from the central balcony of Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican City, 25 December 2024. (EPA)
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Pope Urges ‘All People of All Nations’ to Silence Arms and Overcome Divisions in Christmas Address

Pope Francis leads the traditional Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day blessing from the central balcony of Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican City, 25 December 2024. (EPA)
Pope Francis leads the traditional Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day blessing from the central balcony of Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican City, 25 December 2024. (EPA)

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged "all people of all nations" to find courage during this Holy Year "to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions" plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.

The pontiff's "Urbi et Orbi" — "To the City and the World" — address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, "even (with) our enemies."

"I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions," the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below.

He called for arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine and in the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, "particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave," as well as Lebanon and Syria "at this most delicate time."

Francis repeated his calls for the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

He cited a deadly outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the suffering of the people of Myanmar, forced to flee their homes by "the ongoing clash of arms." The pope likewise remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith.

Iraqi Christians persist in their faith

Christians in Nineveh Plains attended Christmas Mass on Tuesday at the Mar Georgis church in the center of Telaskaf, Iraq, with security concerns about the future. "We feel that they will pull the rug out from under our feet at any time. Our fate is unknown here," said Bayda Nadhim, a resident of Telaskaf.

Iraq’s Christians, whose presence there goes back nearly to the time of Christ, belong to a number of rites and denominations. They once constituted a sizeable minority in Iraq, estimated at around 1.4 million.

But the community has steadily dwindled since the 2003 US-led invasion and further in 2014 when the ISIS extremist group swept through the area. The exact number of Christians left in Iraq is unclear, but they are thought to number several hundred thousand.

German celebrations muted by market attack

German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 people injured.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying that "there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg."

He urged Germans to "stand together" and that "hate and violence must not have the last word."

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had practiced medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim and criticized authorities for failing to combat "the Islamification of Germany" and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.



South Korean Investigators Abandon Arrest of President Yoon

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) carry banners and flags as they march towards the presidential residence during a rally against impeached president Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, 03 January 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) carry banners and flags as they march towards the presidential residence during a rally against impeached president Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, 03 January 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
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South Korean Investigators Abandon Arrest of President Yoon

Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) carry banners and flags as they march towards the presidential residence during a rally against impeached president Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, 03 January 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) carry banners and flags as they march towards the presidential residence during a rally against impeached president Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, 03 January 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

South Korean investigators abandoned their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Friday over a failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a standoff with his security team.

Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the warrant is carried out.

The president, who issued a bungled declaration on December 3 that shook the vibrant East Asian democracy and briefly lurched it back to the dark days of military rule, faces imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

"Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff," the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said in a statement, according to Agence France Presse.

"Concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt" the arrest attempt, the statement said of the confrontation with Yoon's presidential security service and its military unit.

Around 20 investigators and 80 police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel linking arms to block their way after entering the presidential compound, a CIO official told a briefing.

"I understand there were minor and major physical altercations," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that buses and cars were also parked to block their way.

Negotiations between the two sides ultimately faltered and the investigators decided to leave for their team's safety, although another execution of the warrant could take place after a review, the official said.

The deadline for the warrant is Monday, leaving it in limbo with just a few days remaining and Yoon defiant, vowing this week to "fight" authorities trying to question him.

Yoon's security service -- which still protects him as the country's sitting head of state -- has previously blocked attempted police raids of the presidential office.

The president himself has ignored three rounds of summons from investigators, prompting them to seek the warrant.

Yoon's legal team -- who raced to the residence and whom AFP saw were allowed inside -- said police had no right to execute the warrant at a "first-class military secret protection facility".

"We express deep regret regarding today's unlawful and invalid execution of arrest and search warrants," the president's lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement.

"I issue a stern warning and strongly urge the CIO to comply with the law."

Dozens of police buses and thousands of uniformed police had lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul to prevent clashes after rival camps faced off there on Thursday, Yonhap news agency reported.

CIO officials had wanted to arrest Yoon for questioning, after which he could have been held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant.

A handful of Yoon's die-hard supporters, who include far-right YouTube personalities and evangelical Christian preachers, had camped outside his compound in the bitter cold, some holding all-night prayer sessions.

They chanted "Illegal warrant is invalid" as police and media gathered outside the residence.