Pope criticises Jerusalem decision
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has used his Christmas Day address in St Peter’s Square to attack the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Putting more distance between himself and US President Donald Trump, he said that ‘‘a negotiated solution can finally be reached’’ on Jerusalem, ‘‘one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders’’.
After Trump announced his plans for Jerusalem this month, the Pope said he was ‘‘profoundly concerned’’ about the move, and described Jerusalem as a sacred place for Jews, Muslims and Christians.
Last Friday, the United Nations voted 128-9 to rebuke the US.
In his Urbi et Orbi address at St Peter’s yesterday, the Pope said: ‘‘We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.’’
As the ‘‘winds of war’’ blew in the world, he said that Jesus was also visible in the faces of children in Syrian, Iraq, Yemen, Africa, Ukraine and Myanmar.
The Pope has clashed with Trump over plans to build a wall on the Mexican border to keep out migrants, and yesterday he argued that migrants should be embraced, not rebuffed.
‘‘We see Jesus in the many children forced to leave their countries to travel alone in inhuman conditions and who become an easy target for human traffickers,’’ he said. ‘‘Through their eyes, we see the drama of all those forced to emigrate and risk their lives to face exhausting journeys that end at times in tragedy.’’
He added: ‘‘Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head.’’ Referring to Mary and Joseph’s arrival in Bethlehem, he said: ‘‘May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem.’’
By drawing a parallel between Mary and Joseph and migrants, the Pope returned to a theme from Mass on Christmas Eve, when he said: ‘‘We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day.’’
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out against ‘‘populist leaders that deceive their people’’ in a Christmas Day sermon that made references to Star Wars and Harry Potter to deliver a message about freedom and humility.
The greatest freedom that people could enjoy came from God’s love expressed through the birth of Jesus Christ, the Most Rev Justin Welby said at Canterbury Cathedral.
He said that God brought ‘‘more freedom than all Earth’s most powerful leaders’’, adding: ‘‘In 2017, we have seen around the world tyrannical leaders that enslave their peoples, populist leaders that deceive them, corrupt leaders that rob them, even simply democratic, well-intentioned leaders of many parties and countries who are normal, fallible human beings.’’
Welby did not refer to any world leaders by name. Last month he criticised Trump, describing it as ‘‘deeply disturbing’’ that he had chosen to retweet videos posted by a leader of the far-right group Britain First.
The archbishop said that Jesus went on to live most of his life ‘‘in obscurity’’, unlike fictional protagonists who went on to lives of great fame and glory.
‘‘In Star Wars, an abandoned orphan on a desert planet turns into a knight leading the struggle for freedom. Platform 93⁄4 takes Harry Potter into a world of magic and purpose,’’ Welby said.
‘‘Not so in the gospel stories, even those of Christmas.’’
– The Times