{"id":195341,"date":"2018-12-26T03:32:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T08:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=195341"},"modified":"2018-12-26T03:32:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-26T08:32:35","slug":"popes-christmas-wish-world-fraternity-despite-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/12\/26\/popes-christmas-wish-world-fraternity-despite-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope’s Christmas wish: World fraternity despite differences"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cOur differences, then, are not a detriment or a danger; they are a source of richness,\u201d Francis said. (File Photo By Korea.net\/Korean Culture and Information Service Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Francis offered a Christmas wish for fraternity among people of different nations, cultures, faiths, races or ideas, describing the world’s differences as a richness, not a danger, and championing the rights of religious minorities.<\/p>\n

His plea Tuesday for stronger bonds among peoples came as nationalism and a suspicion of migrants are gaining traction across much of the globe.<\/p>\n

The long war in Syria, famine amid warfare in Yemen, social strife in Venezuela and Nicaragua, conflicts in Ukraine and tensions on the Korean Peninsula were among the pope’s concerns in his Christmas Day message, which he read from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.<\/p>\n

Addressing some 50,000 tourists, pilgrims and Romans who flocked to St. Peter’s Square on a mild, sunny day, Francis said the universal message of Christmas is that \u201cGod is a good Father and we are all brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis truth is the basis of the Christian vision of humanity,\u201d Francis said in the traditional papal \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d (\u201cto the city and the world\u201d) message. Without fraternity, he said, \u201ceven our best plans and projects risk being soulless and empty.\u201d He called for that spirit among individuals of \u201cevery nation and\u00a0culture\u201d as well as among people \u201cwith different ideas, yet capable of respecting and listening to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur differences, then, are not a detriment or a danger; they are a source of richness,\u201d Francis said.<\/p>\n

Francis prayed that all minorities have their right to religious freedom respected, noting that some Christians were celebrating Christmas \u201cin difficult, if not hostile, situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communist China is witnessing a systematic suppression of religion, including some restrictions on Christmas celebrations this year. The government’s suppression campaign includes re-education camps for Uighur Muslims and a crackdown on Christian churches.<\/p>\n

Without specifying religions or countries, Francis prayed for \u201call those people who experience ideological, cultural and economic forms of colonization and see their freedom and identity compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis urged the international community to find a political
\nsolution that \u201ccan put aside divisions and partisan interests\u201d and
\nend the war in Syria. He said he hoped that an
\ninternationally-brokered truce for Yemen would bring relief to that
\ncountry’s people, especially children, \u201cexhausted by war and
\nfamine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encouraged dialogue among Israelis and Palestinians to end conflict \u201cthat for over 70 years has rent the land chosen by the Lord to show his face of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Africa, Francis recalled the millions fleeing warfare or in need of food, and prayed for \u201ca new dawn of fraternity to arise over the entire continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis urged Venezuelans to \u201cwork fraternally for the country’s development and to aid the most vulnerable.\u201d Millions of Venezuelans are fleeing their country’s economic and humanitarian crisis in what has become the largest exodus in modern Latin American history, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

On Monday night, the 82-year-old pope celebrated Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Francis offered a Christmas wish for fraternity among people of different nations, cultures, faiths, races or …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":178656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-frances-demilio","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}