25, December 2024
Francis urges ‘all people of all nations’ to silence sound of arms this Christmas 0
Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.
The pontiff’s “Urbi et Orbi” – “To the City and the World” – address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, “even (with) our enemies.”
“I invite every individual, and all people of all nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,” the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to throngs of people below.
The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God’s mercy, which “unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.”
He called for arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine and in the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, “particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” as well as Lebanon and Syria “at this most delicate time.”
He cited a deadly outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the suffering of the people of Myanmar, forced to flee their homes by “the ongoing clash of arms.” The pope likewise remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith.
Pilgrims were lined up on Christmas Day to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.
Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300.
Pilgrims submitted to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amid new security fears following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany. Many paused to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross upon entering the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.
“You feel so humble when you go through the door that once you go through is almost like a release, a release of emotions,” said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. “… It’s almost like a release of emotions, you feel like now you are able to let go and put everything in the hands of God. See I am getting emotional. It’s just a beautiful experience.”
Source: AP
3, January 2025
New Year Day Homilies: Roman Catholic Bishops call on Biya to step down 0
President Paul Biya 91 must resign from power, three Roman Catholic Bishops reportedly said during their New Year Day homilies.
Archbishop Samuel Kleda, Metropolitan Archbishop of Douala, Bishop Emmanuel Abbo of the diocese of Ngaoundéré and Bishop Yaouda Hourgo, Bishop of Yagoua all said that Mr Biya has ruined a wonderful country, turning a bread-basket into a basket case.
The Bishops said it is well past time for Mr Biya to go, saying several sham elections have been followed by several sham processes of power-sharing that produced nothing but suffering.
In their New Year Day homilies, they called for a form of political transition by the end of 2024.
Archbishop Samuel Kleda, Metropolitan Archbishop of Douala, stated that it is unrealistic for Biya to contest the 2025 presidential election. Kleda invoked the wear and tear of time and the vanity of life and added that ‘this is not realistic […] we are human beings. At some point we leave this world, we can’t perform miracles’.
“We’re not going to suffer any more than that. We’ve already suffered. The worst is not going to come. Even the Devil should first take power in Cameroon and then we’ll see…” Archbishop Kleda furthered.
For his part, Mgr Emmanuel Abbo, Bishop of Ngaoundere, reflected on the poor living conditions of Cameroonians and denounced the present form of repression of the freedom of expression of citizens living in deplorable conditions. ‘How is it possible that the desperate pleas of Cameroonians do not prompt the country’s leaders to put an end to their suffering? And the greatest suffering of all is that Cameroonians are forbidden to express their suffering’, the Man of God lamented.
Also speaking on New Year’s Day was Bishop Yaouda Hourgo of the Yagoua diocese. His Lordship Bishop Yaouda said it is time to put an end to the suffering of the Cameroonian people. For him, there is an urgent need for another Cameroonian to take power immediately.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai