LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, has appealed for a ceasefire in all conflicts for this Christmas Day. He made the request repeatedly this week before delivering his inaugural Christmas Mass last night at the Vatican. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports.
(CHEERING)
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: On this rain-soaked Christmas Eve, Pope Leo stepped out from the packed St. Peter's Basilica to bless the crowds of faithful gathered outside under umbrellas.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE POPE LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: And he wished them a happy Christmas as celebration bells tolled.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS RINGING)
SHERLOCK: Inside the Basilica, the choir sang.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing in Non-English language).
SHERLOCK: Pope Leo delivered his homily.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: "For millennia, across the Earth, people have gazed up at the sky, giving names to the silent stars and seeing images therein," he said. "They were trying to divine the future until on Christmas night, when, with the birth of Jesus, everything changed."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: "The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low in the stable nearby." He said humans must care for one another and that rejecting the poor or strangers amounted to rejecting God himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
POPE LEO XIV: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: Pope Leo, who has vowed to continue the agenda of his predecessor, quoted Pope Francis in his homily saying that Christmas rekindles the, quote, "gift and task of bringing hope wherever hope has been lost." It's with this hope, perhaps, that Pope Leo called twice this week for warring sides across the globe to lay down their weapons, even if only for this day.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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