The Church of St. Luke

null / Credit: FotoDax/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Dec 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Amid heavy immigration enforcement by the Trump administration, several bishops in the U.S. have recently issued broad dispensations to Catholics in their dioceses, allowing them to refrain from attending Mass on Sundays if they fear arrest or deportation from federal officials.

Bishops in North Carolina, California, and elsewhere have issued such dispensations, stating that those with legitimate concerns of being detained by immigration agents are free from the usual Sunday obligation.

The Church’s canon law dictates that Sunday is considered the “primordial holy day of obligation,” one on which all Catholics are “obliged to participate in the Mass.” Several other holy days of obligation exist throughout the liturgical year, though Sunday (or the Saturday evening prior) is always considered obligatory for Mass attendance.

The numerous dispensations issued recently in dioceses around the country have underscored, however, that bishops have some discretion in allowing Catholics to stay home from Mass for legitimate reasons.

Dispensation must be ‘just,’ ‘reasonable’

David Long, an assistant professor in the school of canon law at The Catholic University of America as well as the director of the school’s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, told CNA that bishops have the authority to dispense the faithful in their diocese with, as the Code of Canon Law puts it, a “just and reasonable cause.”

“This generally applies when a holy day of obligation falls on a Saturday or Monday, during severe weather events (snowstorms, hurricanes, floods, etc.), when there is no reasonable access to Mass, or during public emergencies such as pandemics or plagues,” he said. Once such circumstances end, he noted, the dispensation itself would cease.

By virtue of their office, diocesan administrators, vicars general, and episcopal vicars also have the power to issue dispensations, Long said.

Priests, however, normally do not have that authority “unless expressly granted by a higher authority, such as their diocesan bishop,” he said.

Canon law, he said, dictates that a dispensation can only be granted when a bishop “judges that it contributes to [the] spiritual good” of his flock, for a just cause, and “after taking into account the circumstances of the case and the gravity of the law from which dispensation is given.”

The lay faithful themselves can determine, in some cases, when they can refrain from going to Mass, though Long stressed that such instances do not constitute “dispensation,” as the laity “does not have the power to dispense at any time” that authority being tied to “executive power in the Church” via ordination.

Canon law dictates, however, that Catholics are not bound to attend Mass when “participation in the Eucharistic celebration becomes impossible.”

Long said such scenarios include “when [the faithful] are sick, contagious, or housebound, when they are the primary caregiver for someone else and cannot arrange coverage for that person, when traveling to Mass is dangerous, when there is no realistic access to Mass, or for some other grave cause.”

“This is not a dispensation,” he said, “but instead is a legal recognition of moral and physical impossibility at times.”

The recent immigration-related controversy isn’t the only large-scale dispensation in recent memory. Virtually every Catholic in the world was dispensed from Mass in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis, when government authorities sharply limited public gatherings, including religious gatherings, all over the world.

In 2024, on the other hand, the Vatican said that Catholics in the United States must still attend Mass on holy days of obligation even when they are transferred to Mondays or Saturdays, correcting a long-standing practice in the U.S. Church and ending a dispensation with which many Catholics were familiar.

‘The most incredible privilege we could possibly imagine’

Though the obligation to attend Mass is a major aspect of Church canon law, Father Daniel Brandenburg, LC, cautioned against interpreting it uncharitably.

“This ‘obligation’ is sort of like the obligation of eating,” he said. “If you don’t eat, you’ll die. Similarly, the Church simply recognizes that if we don’t nourish our soul, it withers away and dies. The bare minimum to survive is Mass once a week on Sundays.”

“Most people find the ‘obligation’ of eating to be quite pleasurable,” he continued, “and I think anyone with a modicum of spiritual awareness finds deep joy in attending Mass and receiving the Creator of the universe into their soul. At least I do.”

Like Long, Brandenburg stressed that the lay faithful lack the authority to “dispense” themselves from Mass. Instead, they are directed to follow their consciences when determining if they are incapable of attending Mass, particularly by applying the principle of moral theology “ad impossibilia, nemo tenetur” “(no one is obliged to do what is impossible”).

Being too sick, facing dangerous inclement weather, or lacking the ability to transport themselves are among the reasons the faithful might determine they are unable to attend Mass, he said.

“Here, beware the lax conscience which gives easy excuses,” Brandenburg warned, “and remember that the saints became holy not through excuses, but through heroic love.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and for millions of other people as well, the Catholic Church's 2025 was primarily about the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.

In fact, the Wikimedia Foundation announced Dec. 2 that "Deaths in 2025" -- an entry that includes Pope Francis -- was their second most-read entry during the year, and Pope Leo's biography was the fifth most-read article of the 7.1 million entries Wikipedia has in English.

"As people rushed online to learn about Leo, traffic to all Wikimedia projects peaked at around 800,000 hits per second -- more than 6x over normal traffic levels, and a new all-time record for us," said the foundation. 

"Plenty of people came to learn more about Francis' life too," they added. "His English Wikipedia article was the 11th most-read (page) of the year."

Pope Francis had begun the year celebrating the Jan. 1 Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, with a weak voice and a puffy face that, looking back, already indicated his doctors were struggling to control his chronic lung conditions -- bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis -- which were exacerbated anytime he had a cold.

He ended up being hospitalized Feb. 14 with a fever and respiratory tract infection, which later developed into double pneumonia.

While he was hospitalized, cardinals and other Vatican officials -- including U.S. Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the future Pope Leo -- started taking turns leading thousands of people in praying the rosary for Pope Francis each night in St. Peter's Square. The nightly prayers continued until the pope was released from Rome's Gemelli hospital March 23.

Pope Francis had opened the Jubilee Year Dec. 24, 2024, just after his 88th birthday. But he ended up delegating cardinals to preside over many of the Jubilee Masses. 

On Easter, after giving his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) -- but barely able to raise his hands -- he took his final ride in the popemobile, spending about 15 minutes among the crowd.

Pope Francis died at 7:35 a.m. the next morning, April 21.

In addition to the mourning and the prayers, his death marked the beginning of meetings of the College of Cardinals to discuss the state of the church, its needs and the needs of the world and the qualities the next pope should have.

The conclave to elect the pope solemnly began May 7 with 133 cardinals entering the Sistine Chapel. Cardinal Prevost was elected the next day, on the fourth ballot, and took the name Pope Leo XIV.

"Peace be with you," were Pope Leo's first words to the crowd. The same words are often the first he says to any group he meets.

With a warm but measured demeanor, the first U.S.-born pope eased into his new ministry, highlighting the same themes his predecessors had: the primary Christian mission of sharing the Gospel, working for peace, promoting unity within the church and within the human family and bringing all of that together by serving the poor and denouncing injustice. 

He explained the threads of that inter-connected message in his first major document, "Dilexi Te" ("I Have Loved You"), an apostolic exhortation "to all Christians on love for the poor." 

"Love for the poor -- whatever the form their poverty may take -- is the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God," the pope wrote. "I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the Church and for society, if we can only set ourselves free of our self-centeredness and open our ears to their cry."

That love, he said in the document and repeatedly elsewhere as well, extends to migrants and refugees.

"The Church has always recognized in migrants a living presence of the Lord who, on the day of judgment, will say to those on his right: 'I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,'" he wrote.

Pope Leo has been asked repeatedly about U.S. President Donald Trump's treatment of migrants and refugees and the administration's stated goal of mass deportations, and he repeatedly has affirmed church teaching that recognizes the right of a nation to control its borders while insisting that people seeking safety and a better life must be treated with dignity. 

Unlike Pope Francis, his predecessor, Pope Leo has had many of those conversations with reporters in Castel Gandolfo, home of a sprawling papal property with villas, a farm, gardens and a new center dedicated to educating people in ecology.

While Pope Francis visited only a couple of times and then turned the main papal residence at Castel Gandolfo into a museum, Pope Leo spent weeks there in the summer and returns most Monday evenings to spend 24 hours at the villa reading, relaxing, playing tennis and swimming in the indoor pool.

Being elected during a Holy Year, with special Jubilee celebrations planned most weekends, Pope Leo inherited a full calendar and made it his own, especially in late July with the Jubilee of Youth, which brought more than 1 million young people to Rome. 

He had a special and immediate connection with the crowd, in large part because he spoke directly to the young people in English and Spanish in addition to Italian, the Vatican's official working language. 

The young people roared with approval as he spoke to them in languages that most could understand without translation. He clearly tapped into their potential, their hopes and their dreams and brought them along with him to celebrate and pray.

"Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are," he told them at Mass Aug. 3. "Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you."

His ability to connect and his focus on mission, unity and peace were especially obvious Nov. 27-Dec. 2 as he made his first foreign trip as pope, visiting Turkey and Lebanon. 

The trip was planned around an ecumenical celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the Creed most Christians share. But he also encouraged the minority Catholic communities that make outsized contributions to both nations and spent hours demonstrating his respect for the majority Muslim communities.

"The more we can promote authentic unity and understanding, respect and human relationships of friendship and dialogue in the world, the greater possibility there is that we will put aside the arms of war, that we will leave aside the distrust, the hatred, the animosity that has so often been built up and that we will find ways to come together and be able to promote authentic peace and justice throughout the world," he told reporters flying back to Rome with him Dec. 2.
 

Church of St. Stephen in Jerusalem, Israel, Sept. 18, 2018. / Credit: Bukvoed, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Dec 26, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

A chapel of one form or another memorializing Stephen’s martyrdom has existed at the site since at least the fifth century. 

Breaking News / CNA

CNA Staff, Dec 25, 2025 / 22:08 pm (CNA).

With the support of the Nigerian government, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military has carried out strikes against elements of ISIS in Nigeria that “have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”

“I have previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” said President Trump of the Dec. 25 action. 

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that “precision hits on terrorist targets” in the country’s northwestern Sokoto state were carried out in cooperation with the United States.   

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support and cooperation” in the counter-terrorism effort. 

Upon announcing the action, President Trump emphasized that “under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to prosper” and that further strikes will be carried out if the “slaughter of Christians” continues in Africa’s most populous country.

Applauding the action, Congressman Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, a Catholic who has championed the cause of persecuted Nigerian Christians in the U.S. House of Representatives, said that “tonight's strike in coordination with the Nigerian government is just the first step to ending the slaughter of Christians and the security crisis affecting all Nigerians.”

This is a developing story.

Fresco of the Holy Family in Dobling Carmelite Monastery in Vienna, Austria. The Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family this year on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. / Credit: Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock

Denver, Colorado, Dec 25, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

The Catholic calendar has several ways to divide the Christmas season. The Church’s Western liturgical tradition sees Christmas as an octave, an eight-day celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The octave of Christmas begins on Christmas itself, the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. It ends on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Jan. 1, which this season falls on a Thursday in the new year of 2026.

The drama of this time of the Catholic liturgical calendar even includes changes to the liturgical vestments of the clergy.

During these eight days of Christmas, clergy wear white during the Mass.

But there are exceptions when clergy wear red, the symbol of martyrdom: the feast of St. Stephen, Dec. 26, and the feast of the Holy Innocents, Dec. 28.

As the Book of Acts recounts, St. Stephen was a deacon who was the first martyr after the resurrection of Jesus. He was killed for preaching Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. One of the witnesses of his death was a man named Saul, the future St. Paul.

The Holy Innocents, too, are considered martyrs. They died in place of Jesus when Herod sought to kill all boys under 2 years old.

On Dec. 27 the Church marks the feast of St. John the Apostle, Jesus’ “beloved disciple.” John was a great evangelist and credited with authoring the Gospel of John and three letters of the New Testament. Many credit him with authoring the Book of Revelation.

The feast of the Holy Family continues the story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with the flight into Egypt. It usually falls on the Sunday after Christmas.

The solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, looks to the role of Mary in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. She is the “Theotokos,” literally the God-bearer. She does not simply carry Jesus’ human nature, nor is she a vessel for his divinity alone. Because Jesus’ divine and human natures are united, she is truly the Mother of God.

The Christmas octave is when so many people have time to rest from a busy year and to spend time with family. One fitting way to observe the octave is to attend daily Mass and prayerfully reflect on the Mass readings.

This story was first published on Dec. 25, 2022, and has been updated.

The Shrine of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Deliceto, Italy, where St. Alphonsus Liguori was inspired to write and compose the famous Italian Christmas carol, “Tu Scendi dalle Stelle,” in 1744. / Credit: Gianpiero Passalia/EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, Dec 25, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Christmas song, written and composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori in the mid-18th century, describes Christ, King and Creator, coming into the world as a poor baby.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus entering the world as a little baby in need of everything is a sign of God's solidarity with every person in need, longing for love and a helping hand, Pope Leo XIV said at Christmas morning Mass.

"The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us. How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?" he asked in his homily at the Mass Dec. 25 in St. Peter's Basilica. 

In celebrating the morning liturgy publicly, Pope Leo restored a tradition that had lapsed for 30 years. St. John Paul II did not preside over the liturgy in 1995 because he had the flu, and the morning Mass never returned to the papal calendar.

Like his predecessors, Pope Leo went to the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at noon to give his solemn blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and world). And, returning to a tradition set aside by Pope Francis, who claimed he was bad at languages, Pope Leo wished people a merry Christmas in 10 languages: Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Chinese and Latin.

"Merry Christmas! May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts and in your families," he said.

In his homily and in his Christmas message before the "urbi et orbi" blessing, Pope Leo insisted that the Christian mission of sharing the good news of salvation in Christ means being serious about what is going on in the world and working to alleviate suffering, promote dialogue and end wars and violence.

Taking on the fragile flesh of a baby, God wanted to identify with every human person, he said in the morning homily. 

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

"When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun," the pope insisted.

The response of Christians to suffering and violence must be firm but tender, he said.

"We do not serve a domineering Word -- too many of those already resound everywhere," the pope said, but rather Christians profess and serve a Lord who "inspires goodness, knows its efficacy and does not claim a monopoly over it."

The peace proclaimed by Jesus, he said, will take root "when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other." 

Pope Leo continued his reflection in his "urbi et orbi" message, telling the crowd gathered in the rain in St. Peter's Square that Jesus, "out of love" wanted "to be born of a woman and so share our humanity; out of love, he accepted poverty and rejection, identifying himself with those who are discarded and excluded."

As is customary, the pope used his message to call attention to urgent needs and suffering in places around the globe and to urge people to help relieve that suffering.

"Those who do not love are not saved; they are lost," he said. "And those who do not love their brother or sister whom they see, cannot love God whom they do not see," as the First Letter of John says.

"If all of us, at every level, would stop accusing others and instead acknowledge our own faults, asking God for forgiveness, and if we would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change," Pope Leo said.

Looking around the world, the pope prayed for peace and justice in dozens of countries, including Ukraine, and, as he did the night before and during the Christmas morning Mass, Pope Leo also called attention to the plight of migrants and refugees, asking governments to accept and assist them.

"In becoming man," he said, "Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent." 

"On this holy day, let us open our hearts to our brothers and sisters who are in need or in pain," Pope Leo said. "In doing so, we open our hearts to the Child Jesus, who welcomes us with open arms and reveals his divinity to us."

Octavia Thuss and her son Henry Thuss from La Cañada, California, were among the 26,000 people in St. Peter's Square for the pope's blessing. They also had been in the square late the night before, watching the pope's Christmas Mass on a screen in the rain.

Since it was Pope Leo's first Christmas as pope, "It was historic," she said. "It was a really beautiful service."

Spending the Christmas holiday in Rome during the final days of the Jubilee Year added to the experience, since they were among some of the last pilgrims to pass through the Holy Doors at the city's major basilicas.

"It's kind of a no brainer," Henry said, adding that he felt being at the Vatican during Christmas in a Jubilee Year was akin to Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

- - -

Contributing to this story was Josephine Peterson.
 

Pope Leo's Christmas message: Jesus brings peace by healing sin

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Christmas morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 25 before giving his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).

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: a new “cathedra,” a wooden bench prepared by homeless people.

null / Credit: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 24, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Abortion clinic workers across the country are once again receiving Christmas cards from religious sisters offering prayers, compassion, and an invitation to seek a career outside the abortion industry.

And Then There Were None (ATTWN), a pro-life organization dedicated to assisting abortion clinic workers leave their jobs and find life-affirming careers, carries out this ministry each Christmas season with help from convents around the country. The Christmas card project is a part of a larger mission of handwritten cards sent throughout the year.

This year, Dominican, Maronite, Benedictine, Carmelite, Capuchin, and Franciscan sisters, as well as Apostolic Sisters of St. John and Trinitarians of Mary, sent at least 1,030 handwritten Christmas cards to abortion clinic workers with loving messages and an image of the Holy Family. 

Reaching ‘quitters’

ATTWN has sent nearly 23,000 handwritten cards to abortion facilities in the last decade, encouraging workers to leave their jobs with ATTWN’s support.

“The clinics are hearing from us about once every four to five business days in some way, whether it’s through some gift, a little trinket, a handwritten card, a postcard, or something we send in,” Abby Johnson, ATTWN CEO and founder, told CNA.

Johnson herself once worked in the industry, serving as a clinic director of an abortion facility in Bryan, Texas, for eight years before leaving and starting ATTWN to help other “quitters” leave, find new employment, and heal from their experiences.

“Our handwritten card ministry is one of the most effective ministries we have in reaching abortion clinic workers and having them leave,” she said. “There’s just something very personal about a handwritten note. Somebody took the time to sit down and write to you.” 

ATTWN has “dozens and dozens” of volunteers who send the messages regularly, Johnson said. “We have a really accurate database of abortion clinics and abortion referral facilities. I think there’s about 850 facilities on there, and this group of women are constantly writing notes.” 

When workers receive the notes, “they leave,” Johnson said. “Workers will say, ‘I got this letter. I folded it up, I kept it in my purse, I put it in my scrub pocket, and I went home and I called you guys.’ So it is very powerful. We see that it does truly make a difference.”

“I received a handwritten note from one of my sidewalk counselors when I worked at the clinic, and I still have it in my wallet,” Johnson said. “It’s just a Bible verse on it, but it says, ‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.’ And I still have that little card in my wallet from 18 years ago.”

The note “meant enough at that time to keep it,” Johnson said. “I pull it out and remind myself why I’m doing [pro-life work] and how God has blessed me so much. It’s just a powerful reminder that someone out there took the time to think about you, specifically.”

Christmas card ministry 

The letters create “by far the most overwhelming response … and we have the highest response from them at Christmastime, which is when they are receiving the notes from the sisters,” Johnson said. 

Five years ago, Johnson decided to incorporate the Christmas season into the ministry, specifically with the help of religious sisters. 

“The idea came to me because I was very moved by a Franciscan sister who used to pray in front of the facility where I used to work in Bryan, Texas. It was the first time that I had ever seen a nun in public in my life.”

“I was so struck by her being out there and her presence,” she said. “It was so hot outside, and she was in her full habit, and her little face was so red. It was over 100 degrees. I remember I just watched her all day outside my window.”

“I remember the first patient that left that day after having an abortion, she fell to her knees and was just weeping. I thought: ‘Wow, this has really impacted her in a way that I just can’t understand. She has a sorrow that I just don’t understand.’”

“That’s always stayed with me ever since I was working there … So when we started the ministry,  we started thinking: ‘How could we incorporate nuns in some way?’” 

If workers started speaking with religious sisters, it could “make an impact on their heart,” Johnson thought. “We started reaching out to convents across the country, asking them if they would partner with us.”

Several reached back out to ATTWN and eagerly wanted to be a part of the project.

A ‘perfect partnership’

ATTWN shares its database of clinics with the sisters, “then they just start writing,” Johnson said. “It’s just been really beautiful to see the fruit of that.”

Some of the participating sisters live in cloistered convents. “They don’t go out. They spend their lives in contemplative prayer,” Johnson said. “So their only real correspondence is through mail, through writing. So it’s beautiful work for them.”

“This is what they do. They write notes, they send letters, they pray. That’s what they do all day long. So it’s a perfect ministry for them. It’s a perfect partnership.”

ATTWN will send the sister some ideas of what they can write so they know the proper resources to share with the workers, but then they can add any additional messages.

“They fill in other things that they would like to say, different spiritual things that they feel led to say,” Johnson said. Their messages are “from their hearts and are just so prayerful and beautiful.”

After the sisters write the Christmas cards, they are “put on the altar, they’re blessed, they’re prayed over, and they’re sent in.”

“We always make sure that we send them a card that has the image of the Holy Family on it. We just want to remind them that that’s what God wants for them, and this is what Christmas is about — it’s about the Lord.”

The image is a reminder that “this is what we’re designed for,” Johnson said. “We’re designed for families, and God wants families for them as well. He wants families for the women who are walking into those clinics.” 

“He created us for good, for family, for love, and for creation, not for destruction. We make sure that the cards that we send in have an image that really defines that.”

Johnson plans for ATTWN to continue to send the annual cards from the sisters. “For so many of these convents, being pro-life is a part of who they are. It’s part of their charism,” she said. “So we would love to have as many as we can participate.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- If people refuse to make room for others -- like the poor, children and the stranger -- then they also refuse to make room for God, Pope Leo XIV said as he celebrated the birth of Jesus.

"Where there is room for the human person, there is room for God," the pope said in his homily Dec. 24 as he celebrated the nighttime liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica.

"While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person," he 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."

The Christmas hymn, "Noel," was sung during the procession, and the Mass began with the Christmas proclamation, or "kalenda," of Jesus' birth. The pope lifted a cloth to reveal a statue of baby Jesus, which he then kissed and blessed with incense.

As the bells of St. Peter's Basilica rang loudly, announcing the birth of Christ, several children representing different cultures placed white flowers around the crib of baby Jesus.

Before the Mass, Pope Leo appeared outside the basilica to greet some 5,000 people gathered in the square under the cold, pouring rain. The basilica was near capacity, and large screens set up in the square allowed the overflow crowd to follow the liturgy.

"Good evening and welcome!" the pope said to the crowd outside.

"The basilica of St. Peter's is very large, but unfortunately, it is not large enough to receive all of you. I admire and respect and thank you for your courage and your wanting to be here this evening," he said in English.

"Jesus Christ, who was born for us, brings us peace, brings us God's love," he said before heading back to the basilica for the Mass. More than 6,000 people were in the basilica, and guards were reportedly letting additional people in from the rain during the service. 

In his homily, the pope reflected on how, for millennia, people looked to the heavens for guidance and a truth that was missing below on earth.

With the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the One who redeems humanity is born, the pope said. "To find the Savior, one must not gaze upward, but look below."

"The omnipotence of God shines forth in the powerlessness of a newborn," he said. "The divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life."

"To heal our blindness, the Lord chooses to reveal himself in each human being," Pope Leo said. "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 said, quoting from Pope Benedict XVI's homily on Christmas Eve in 2012.

His predecessor's words "remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person. To refuse one is to refuse the other," he said.

"The wisdom of Christmas," he said, is that God gives the world a new life -- his own, offered for all -- in the Child Jesus. "He does not give us a clever solution to every problem, but a love story that draws us in."

"Will this love be enough to change our history?" he asked. "The answer will come as soon as we wake up from a deadly night into the light of new life and, like the shepherds, contemplate the Child Jesus." 

God sends a child to be "a word of hope," he said, recalling how exactly one year ago, Pope Francis began the Holy Year dedicated to hope on Christmas Eve. The year will run through Jan. 6, 2026.

"Now, as the Jubilee draws to a close, Christmas becomes for us a time of gratitude" for the gift received and mission to bear witness to it before the world, he said.

"Let us therefore announce the joy of Christmas, which is a feast of faith, charity and hope," he said, and become "messengers of peace. With these virtues in our hearts, unafraid of the night, we can go forth to meet the dawn of a new day."

After the Mass, Pope Leo carried the figurine of the baby Jesus to the Nativity scene at the back of the basilica. Flanked by children on either side, the pope went to the crèche, and the Jesus figurine was placed in the manger. The pope blessed the crowd as he left the basilica.