VATICAN (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Friday that those indifferent to the poor offend God, and urged the faithful to “look beyond all lights and decorations” and remember the most deprived at the traditional mass from midnight.
The Pope celebrated a solemn mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in front of around 2,000 people, the number of participants so limited by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Brothers and sisters, standing in front of the crche, we contemplate what is central, beyond all these lights and decorations, we contemplate the child”, said the Pope in the homily of this concluding Mass with more than 200 cardinals, bishops and priests.
Franois, who turned 85 last week, said the child Jesus, born in poverty, needed to remind people that serving others is more important than seeking status or social visibility or spending a lifetime seeking success.
“It is in them (the poor) that he wants to be honored,” said Franois, who made the defense of the poor a cornerstone of his pontificate.
“On this night of love, may we have only one fear: that of offending the love of God, of hurting it by despising the poor through our indifference. Jesus loves them dearly, and one day they will welcome us to paradise, “he said.
On Saturday, Franois will pronounce his blessing “Urbi et Orbi” (the city and the world) from the central balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
(French version Camille Raynaud)