Pope Leo decries conditions in Gaza as he delivers pointed first Christmas sermon from Vatican
Leo, the first American pontiff, said the story of Jesus's birth showed that God had "pitched his fragile tent" among the people of the world.
Pope Leo has decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in a pointed first Christmas sermon at the Vatican.
Listen to this article
Leo, the first American pontiff, said the story of Jesus's birth showed that God had "pitched his fragile tent" among the people of the world.
"How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?" he asked.
The new Pope was only elected by conclave in May, and used his first Christmas to make explicitly political statements in an unusually-pointed style.
Read More: Trump touts 'beautiful and clean' coal to children while talking about their Christmas wishlists
Leo has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor, Pope Francis, and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.
In a later Christmas blessing, the Pope, who has made care for immigrants a key theme of his early papacy, also lamented the situation for migrants and refugees who "traverse the American continent".
Leo, who has in the past criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, did not mention Trump. In a Christmas Eve sermon on Wednesday, the Pope said refusing to help the poor and strangers was tantamount to rejecting God himself.
The pontiff also recalled the fragility of "defenceless populations, tried by so many wars", and of "young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them, and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths".
Leo underlined that peace can emerge only through dialogue.
"There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other," he said.
Thousands of people packed the basilica for the Pope's first Christmas Day mass, raising their smartphones to capture images of the opening procession.
Leo later delivered the traditional Christmas message from a loggia overlooking St Peter's Square, where the faithful gathered in steady rain.
The Urbi et Orbi blessing - Latin for "to the city and the world" - serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year.
This Christmas season marks the winding down of the Holy Year celebrations, which will close on January 6, the Catholic Epiphany holiday marking the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.