Christmas: Pope Francis Calls For Peace And Reconciliation In Nigeria

Pope Francis has called for peace and reconciliation in Nigeria in the spirit of Christmas celebrations.

The pontiff who made this call in his Christmas message to the world on Friday also sued for peace in Syria, Yemen, Nagorno-Karabakh, Cameroon, Iraq, and South Sudan.

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Further calling on political and business leaders to ensure that market forces and patent laws are not allowed to influence the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to all, the pope begged world leaders to promote cooperation and not competition.

“At this moment in history, marked by the ecological crisis and grave economic and social imbalances only worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, it is all the more important for us to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters.

“I beg everyone, heads of state, companies and international organisations to promote cooperation and not competition, to find a solution for everyone vaccines for all especially for the most vulnerable and needy in all areas of the planet.

“The most vulnerable and needy must be first,” he said, in the Vatican’s Hall of the Benedictions, with only about 50 Vatican staff wearing masks sitting along the long walls.

“We can’t put ourselves before others, putting market forces and patent laws before the laws of love and the health of humanity,” he said. “We cannot let closed nationalisms block us from living like the true human family that we are.

“And neither can we allow the virus of radical individualism to triumph over us and make us indifferent to the suffering of other brothers and sisters.

“May the Child of Bethlehem help us, then, to be generous, supportive and helpful, especially towards those who are vulnerable, the sick, those unemployed or experiencing hardship due to the economic effects of the pandemic, and women who have suffered domestic violence during these months of lockdown,” the pope said.