Pope urges Israelis, Palestinians to write ‘new page of history’

Pope Francis urged peace around the world in his traditional Christmas address on Sunday, calling for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, weapons in Syria to fall silent and offering comfort to victims of terrorism.

The 80-year-old Argentine urged Israelis and Palestinians to “have the courage and the determination to write a new page of history, where hate and revenge give way to the will to build together a future of mutual understanding and harmony.”

And he called for guns to fall silent in Syria, saying “far too much blood has been spilled” in the nearly six-year conflict, in his message from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica to a crowd of 40,000 gathered in the square below which, despite the sunny weather, was far from full.

“It is time for weapons to be still forever, and the international community to actively seek a negotiated solution,” the pontiff told the crowds gathered for his fourth “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and The World) message.

As Europe ramped up security for the holiday just days after the truck attack that left 12 dead at a Berlin Christmas market, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics said he hoped for “peace to those who have lost a person dear to them as a result of brutal acts of terrorism.”

The pope also urged peace in Iraq, Libya and Yemen — “where their peoples suffer war and the brutality of terrorism” — and expressed hope for an end to conflicts in Africa, including in Nigeria and South Sudan.

The Pope’s call for peace struck a slightly more upbeat tone than many of the sermons given Christmas eve, during which religious leaders from the Vatican to Bethlehem struck a somber note, warning that war, fear and divisions lie ahead in 2017 after a tumultuous year.

In Milan, where suspected Berlin attacker Anis Amri was killed in a police shootout on Friday, there was a heavy police presence around the cathedral. The entrance has been protected by concrete barriers since the Berlin attack.

In France, where Berlin has raised grim memories of the jihadist truck rampage in June that left 86 people dead, 91,000 members of the security forces have been deployed to guard public spaces including churches and markets over the weekend.

Religious ceremonies in Germany were heavy with the weight of Monday’s attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

“Christmas this year carries a deep wound — we are celebrating this festival in a different way this year,” said Gebhard Fuerst, bishop of Rothenburg in the southeast.

But Baden bishop Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh offered a note of hope.

“At Christmas, a light shines in the world — it shines in powerful darknesses like those we have seen in recent years with the horror of war, civil war and terrorist attacks,” he said.