Pope Francis in Christmas message: ‘May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine’

Pope Francis raked up the Russia-Ukraine war in his annual Christmas message as he called for talks between the two warring parties to end the almost 3-year-long conflict on Wednesday.

Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, the pope said: “May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine!” He also called for “gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace”.

Pope Francis’ message came after Russia struck Ukraine on Christmas day, targeting the country’s energy grid and injuring several people across Kyiv and Kharkiv.

The 88-year-old Francis, celebrating the 12th Christmas of his pontificate, called for an end to political, social or military conflicts in places including Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

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While the Pope’s message of peace for Ukraine resonated across the world, Francis was criticised by Ukrainian officials this year when he said the country should have the courage of the “white flag” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

In his Christmas Eve message too, the Pope urged Christians across the world to think of “the wars, of the machine-gunned children, of the bombs on schools or hospitals”.

Francis, who has recently grown more critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, describing it last week as “cruelty”, also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war and for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

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He called the humanitarian in Gaza “extremely grave” and asked for “the doors of dialogue and peace (to) be flung open”.

Francis opened a Holy Year for the global Catholic Church on Tuesday evening, Christmas Eve, which will run through Jan. 6, 2026. A Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon.

On Wednesday, the pope said the Jubilee year should be a time for “every individual, and all peoples and nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions”.

With inputs from agencies