Jubilee in Rome, austere Bethlehem, protest in Syria

Pope Francis wants to offer hope worldwide with the Jubilee Year of the Roman Catholic Church. He said this during the Christmas Eve Mass in which he symbolically heralded the special year by opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

“We all have the task of bringing hope where there is no hope anymore,” he told the faithful. He thought particularly of people in war situations, where “children are being mowed down with machine guns and bombs are falling on schools and hospitals.”

According to him, everyone has to work hard to bring hope there. “This is not a good ending to a film that we can passively wait for.”

The Catholic Church holds a Jubilee year every 25 years in which reconciliation is central. In Rome, tens of millions of pilgrims are expected to take the opportunity to walk through one of the city’s Holy Doors to receive a plenary pardon for sins. This would allow them to start with a clean slate spiritually.

Traditionally, the focus is on the Holy Doors in Rome’s four main churches, but this year Francis will also open a Holy Door in the city’s Rebibbia prison to underline his message of forgiveness. It is the first time since the tradition began in the Middle Ages that this form has been chosen.

Unlike Rome, Christmas in Bethlehem was again austere this time due to the war in the region. While many believers normally visit the place where Jesus was born in a stable on Christmas Eve, according to tradition, there were now only a limited number of visitors to the midnight mass.

The large Christmas tree that is normally decorated is missing and there are not many cheerful Christmas lights this year. Patriarch Pizzaballa referred to the ongoing conflict in his reflection. He hopes Christmas brings the promise of better times.

“The message is: have courage. Next year will again bring the Christmas trees, life, people and pilgrims. Later we will all work towards that and believe in it.”

Earlier in the day, at least eight people were killed in an Israeli raid on the city of Tulkarem in the West Bank, where Bethlehem is also located. According to the Israeli army, soldiers returned fire after opening fire on them.

In neighboring Syria, Christians took to the streets in the capital Damascus today to demand freedom of religion from the new rulers in the country. Although rebel movement HTS has assured that all ethnicities and faiths will be respected in the country, many fear that the al-Qaeda past of new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa does not bode well.

The Christians took to the streets because a large Christmas tree had caught fire in the city of Hama earlier in the day. Although it is unclear who was responsible, the incident increases the fear among Christians that they will soon no longer be able to practice their faith freely. As a precaution, church leaders had already said not to celebrate too exuberantly.

The local leader of HTS nevertheless seems to keep his word: according to him, the Christmas tree was set on fire by foreigners and the perpetrators can expect severe punishment. He promised to replace the tree quickly. HTS patrols were also established to protect Christmas celebrations.

At a Christmas celebration in Damascus, a believer therefore dared to be cautiously optimistic. For him, the birth of Jesus this year also symbolizes the birth of a new Syria. “We are so happy. This year it is different. We are happy, we have overcome.”

In Ukraine, Christmas was disrupted by a Russian attack. At least one person was killed when a Russian missile destroyed an apartment building in Kryvy Rih. Fifteen people were injured, including a woman who had to be rescued from the rubble.

The broadcast of President Zelensky’s Christmas speech was just in progress when his hometown was hit in the attack. He said his compatriots “just want to see a Christmas star when they look up, not Iranian drones and Russian missiles.”

He recalled that Ukraine celebrates Christmas for the second time on December 25, no longer on January 7 as usual in Christian Orthodox churches. “For the second time, Christmas unites all Ukrainians. We all stand side by side.”