In 1st Christmas mass, Pope Leo laments ‘rain, wind, cold’ facing displaced Gazans

Drawing parallels to the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem tent, pontiff asks: ‘How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza?’

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon on Thursday, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Leo, the first US pope, said the story of Jesus being born in a stable showed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.

“How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asked.

Heavy rains have battered Gaza in recent weeks — compounding the harsh conditions of the Strip’s residents, nearly all of whom were displaced during the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. The UN has said that an estimated 1.3 million people currently need shelter assistance in Gaza and has warned of the increasing risk of hypothermia as temperatures dip.

Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late pope Francis, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.

But the new pope has also lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians must include a Palestinian state.

In Thursday’s service with thousands in St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo also lamented conditions for the homeless across the globe and the destruction caused by the wars roiling the world.

“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” said the pope.

“Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths,” he said.

The pope’s sentiments were echoed by Christian worshipers in Gaza: “The war, in all its forms, has been harsh on everyone living on this land,” Elias al-Jalda, a Palestinian Christian from Gaza, told AFP after attending a Christmas mass at Gaza’s only Roman Catholic Church late on Wednesday.

“We hope this year will mark the beginning of a new phase — one defined by a complete end to the war and the return of life to Gaza,” said Jalda, one of dozens attending the mass.

Rami al-Far, another attendee, said: “Our celebrations are very limited. We try to live as best we can with what we have.”