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Pope Leo XIV on Christmas night: Make room for others

Pope Leo XIV on Christmas night: Make room for others

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Christmas Mass during the Night in a packed St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 24, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA. Vatican City, Dec 24, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV, at Christmas Mass during the Night, said Christ’s birth brings light into the world’s darkness — and where the human person is welcomed, God is welcomed too. “To enlighten our blindness, the Lord chose to reveal himself as a man to man, his true image, according to a plan of love that began with the creation of the world,” the pope said in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24. “As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then ‘there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger,’” he added, quoting Pope Benedict XIV’s homily at Christmas Mass on Dec. 24, 2012. “These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person,” the pontiff said. Leo celebrated the Christmas Mass, also known as Midnight Mass, for a packed Vatican basilica at 10 p.m. The Vatican said an estimated 6,000 people were inside the basilica for the Mass, while another 5,000 people followed the papal Mass via jumbo screens in St. Peter’s Square. In a surprise before the Mass, the pope stepped outside St. Peter’s Basilica to greet those who were forced to stay in the rainy square, because there was no more room inside. “The basilica of St. Peter’s is very large, but unfortunately it is not large enough to receive all of you,” Leo said, thanking everyone for their presence, wishing them a merry Christmas, and bestowing his apostolic blessing. Just now: Pope Leo surprised and blessed the crowd that could not get into St. Peter’s Basilica for tonight’s Christmas Eve Mass. “The basilica of St. Peter is very large, but unfortunately, it is not large enough to receive all of you. Tante grazie per venire qui questa sera.” pic.twitter.com/vMK1Zmibl8 — EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) December 24, 2025 The preparatory readings and the sung Proclamation of the Birth of Christ — also called the Kalenda Proclamation — preceded the Mass. The pontiff removed a cloth to reveal a wooden sculpture of the Christ Child, placed in front of the main altar of the basilica, after the chanting of the Kalenda Proclamation. A group of 10 children dressed in traditional clothing from different parts of the world brought flowers to the figure of Baby Jesus. In his homily, the pope recalled that, “for millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky” attempting to read the future in the stars. Yet, they remained lost and in the dark, he said. “On this night, however, ‘the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ (Isaiah 9:2).” “Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night,” Leo said. “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. Pope Leo invited Christians to marvel at the wisdom of Christmas, through which “God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all.” “He does not give us a clever solution to every problem, but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends one who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world,” he said. The pontiff quoted a sermon of St. Augustine, who said, “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again.” “While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person,” Leo said. “While humanity seeks to become ‘god’ in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?”

Christmas reversed in Slovakia: Why the homeless gave this archbishop a gift

Christmas reversed in Slovakia: Why the homeless gave this archbishop a gift

Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice celebrates Mass with homeless and people in need at the Archdiocesan Charity in Košice, Slovakia, during a traditional Christmas gathering in December 2025. / Credit: Archdiocesan Charity of Košice EWTN News, Dec 24, 2025 / 17:00 pm (CNA). Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, Slovakia, found a special gift under the Christmas tree. It was a new “cathedra,” a wooden bench prepared by homeless people in a charity workshop. Benches are also associated with people living on the margins of society. The traditional Christmas gathering began with a Mass inside one of the buildings of the Archdiocesan Charity in Košice, the second-largest city in Slovakia. After the Mass, the prelate, who also serves as president of the Slovak Bishops’ Conference, joined those in need for goulash and other seasonal meals. “Christmas is not just about the Nativity scene,” Bober said, but mainly about people — getting together, acceptance, and mutual closeness. “It is precisely people who have a difficult fate… who need to feel at this time that they are not alone, that they are accepted, and that they have their place among us,” he said. The wooden bench presented to Archbishop Bernard Bober in December 2025. Credit: Archdiocesan Charity of Košice Such gatherings have a strong human dimension and help release tension, build trust, and enter the new year with hope, according to a press release the Archdiocesan Charity sent to CNA. The bench was made in a charity workshop where those in need gain and improve manual skills, helping them enter the job market. Besides the bench, they gave the archbishop flowers, handmade decorations, ikebana, and soap. The gifts were also given to mark his recent 75th birthday on Nov. 3. “We do not want these holidays to be just a nice tradition, but a call to responsibility, too,” the Archdiocesan Charity of Košice said. The organization invites public officials to such events so they can see the reality facing the homeless and “feel greater sensitivity when deciding on solutions that can ensure a more dignified life for them.” The birthday celebration was another gift for Bober, who reached canonical retirement age. In early November, his birthday coincided with a local Jubilee of Young People in Košice. In front of the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth, approximately 25,000 people greeted the prelate and enjoyed a concert by the Godzone evangelization band and a party led by Portuguese priest and DJ Father Guilherme Peixoto. Pope Leo XIV sent a video message to the participants, calling them to be “witnesses of communion, builders of bridges, and sowers of trust in a world often marked by division and suspicion.” “Jesus calls you... to live the Gospel with enthusiasm and to share the joy that springs from encountering the Lord,” the pope said. “Bring the light of Christ into your families, schools, universities, workplaces, and communities.”

L’India mostra i muscoli nello spazio: il razzo LVM3 lancia il satellite più pesante di sempre dall’India, ed è americano

L’India mostra i muscoli nello spazio: il razzo LVM3 lancia il satellite più pesante di sempre dall’India, ed è americano

L'ISRO completa con successo la missione commerciale con AST SpaceMobile, lanciando il satellite più pesante mai partito dall'India. Obiettivo: internet veloce direttamente sullo smartphone, ovunque. L'articolo L’India mostra i muscoli nello spazio: il razzo LVM3 lancia il satellite più pesante di sempre dall’India, ed è americano proviene da Scenari Economici .