At The Vatican, A Christmas Eve Mass Shaped By The Pandemic

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Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Eve Mass on Thursday at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, as Italy went back into lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.





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«The birth of Jesus is the ‘newness’ that enables us to be reborn each year, and to find, in Him, the strength needed to face every trial, the pontiff said in his homily, according to the Vatican’s news service.

He also spoke of the need to help those in poverty, reflected on «our injustice toward so many of our brothers and sisters – and offered a reminder that Jesus was himself an outcast.

«The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God, Francis said, according to Reuters.

«God came among us in poverty and need, to tell us that in serving the poor, we will show our love for him.

• COVID-19


• Pope Francis


• Christmas