Pope Francis has asked to “lower Christmas spending” and send the money saved to the Ukrainian people

The Pope francesco asked this Wednesday to lower expenses in this Christmas send the saved money to the municipality of Ukraine who “is suffering a lot” from the Russian invasion, which began on February 24th.

“Christmas is beautiful, but let’s lower the level of Christmas spending a bit. Let’s spend a more sober, humble Christmas, with humbler gifts, let’s send what we save to the Ukrainian people who need it,” said the Supreme Pontiff in front of the faithful present in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, where he led the General Public Conference.

And he continued: “They suffer a lot, they suffer from hunger, they feel the cold. And many die because there are no doctors or nurses on hand. Let’s not forget: Christmas, yes. At peace with the Lord, yes. But with the Ukrainians in the heart. Let’s do this concrete gesture for them”.

“We renew our closeness to the martyred Ukrainian peoplepersevering in fervent prayer for these brothers and sisters of ours who are suffering so much. Brothers and sisters, I tell you: there is a lot of suffering in Ukraine, a lot, a lot,” she concluded.

It is not the first time that the Pope has referred to the war started by Russia. Without going any further, last Thursday, during a public act in Rome as part of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, he could not hold back his tears when he once again evoked Ukraine “martyred” by the war.

The Supreme Pontiff, who turns 86 on December 17, has wanted since his election in 2013 to honor the Christian heritage of the search for peace and has proposed himself as a mediator or rather promoter of dialogue directly or indirectly in numerous conflicts, including that Ukrainian .

The Pope burst into tears over the war in Ukraine

Pope Francis cried last Thursday while praying for peace in Ukraine during an annual Christmas visit to venerate a statue of the Virgin Mary near the Spanish Steps in central Rome.

Francisco bent down and his voice trailed off, unable to speak precisely when he got to the part of the sentence where he said, “Oh, Immaculate Virgin, today I wanted to thank you from the Ukrainian people…“.

When the thousands of dignitaries, clergymen and Roman citizens present realized that the Pope was overcome with emotion, they broke into applause and encouraged him to continue.

Then he resumed the thread of his speech, leaning on the arm of the chair but remaining standing.

“(Give you) the thanks of the Ukrainian people for the peace we have been asking the Lord for a long time”, he continued.

“Instead, I must present to you the supplication of children, of the elderly, of fathers, mothers and young people of this tormented land that suffers so much”, he continued with his voice still distorted by emotion.

With information from Telam.

IT​