Pope addresses atheists in appeal for world peace
Message a contrast to his predecessor
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, celebrating his first Christmas as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, on Wednesday called on atheists to unite with believers of all religions and work for “a homemade peace” that can spread across the world.
Speaking to about 70,000 people from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the same spot where he emerged to the world as pope when he was elected March 13, Francis also made an appeal for the environment to be saved from “human greed.”
The leader of the 1.2 billion-member church wove the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “to the city and to the world”) message around the theme of peace.
“Peace is a daily commitment,” he said.
“It is a homemade peace.”
He said that people of other religions were also praying for peace, and, departing from his prepared text, he urged atheists to join forces with believers.
“I invite even nonbelievers to desire peace. (Join us) with your desire, a desire that widens the heart. Let us all unite, either with prayer or with desire, but everyone for peace,” he said, drawing sustained applause from the crowd.
Francis’ appeal to atheists and people of other religions is a marked contrast to the attitude of former Pope Benedict XVI, who sometimes left nonCatholics feeling that he saw them as second-class believers.
Francis called for “social harmony in South Sudan, where current tensions have already caused numerous victims and are threatening peaceful coexistence in that young state.”
The pontiff also called for dialogue to end the conflicts in Syria, Nigeria, Congo and Iraq, and prayed for a “favorable outcome” to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Wars shatter and hurt so many lives,” he said.
The thread running through the message was that individuals had a role in promoting peace, either with their neighbor or between nations.
The message of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was directed at “every man or woman who keeps watch through the night, who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty,” he said.
“God is peace: Let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world,” he said.
Pilgrims came from all over the world for Christmas at the Vatican, and some said it was because they felt Francis had brought a breath of fresh air to the church.
“(He) is bringing a new era into the church, a church that is focusing much more on the poor and that is more austere, more lively,” said Dolores Di Benedetto, who came from the pope’s homeland, Argentina, to attend Christmas Eve Mass.