Ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica highlights message of peace and marks the beginning of Christmas rites
This Wednesday afternoon (24), he began his first mass at the head of the Catholic Church. The Evening Mass for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord began at around 5:35 pm (Brasília time), in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, marking the pontiff’s first Christmas since the beginning of his papacy.
The celebration features the symbolic participation of ten children from South Korea, India, Mozambique, Paraguay, Poland and . With flowers in their hands, they accompanied the Pope in the procession to the nativity scene set up in the Basilica, in a gesture that reinforces the message of peace and fraternity defended by Leo XIV since his election.
Before Christmas celebrations began, the Pope once again appealed for a day of global truce at Christmas. He asked “people of good will” that, at least on the date of Christ’s birth, there be a concrete effort for peace, which he defined as “disarmed and disarming”.
Elected on May 8 of this year, North American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, aged 70, became the 267th pope of the Catholic Church and the first from the United States to hold the position. With the name Leo XIV, he succeeds Pope Francis and has been in charge of the Vatican for around seven months.
The Christmas program continues this Thursday (25), with the mass of the day in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the morning, followed by the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, granted from the central balcony. The pontiff’s agenda also includes Angelus prayers, liturgical celebrations throughout the end of the year and, in January, the mass for World Peace Day.
*Report produced with the help of AI
