Pope Francis criticises people who are 'ravenous' for wealth and power in Christmas homily

25 December 2022, 08:08 | Updated: 25 December 2022, 08:10

Pope Francis has rebuked people who are "ravenous" for power and riches, comparing them to the poverty of Jesus, in his sermon at a Christmas service in the Vatican.

Speaking to a congregation of about 7,000 at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the pope contrasted the humility of Jesus' birth and life with the way many people live today.

"While animals feed in their stalls, men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbours, their brothers and sisters," Francis said.

"How many wars have we seen? And in how many places, even today, are human dignity and freedom treated with contempt?"

"As always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable," said Pope Francis, who did not cite any specific conflict or situation.

"This Christmas, too, as in the case of Jesus, a world ravenous for money, power and pleasure does not make room for the little ones, for the so many unborn, poor and forgotten children," the pope said. "I think above all of the children devoured by war, poverty and injustice."

But Francis urged people not to lose heart.

"Do not allow yourself to be overcome by fear, resignation or discouragement," he said. Jesus lying in a manger shows where "the true riches in life are to be found: not in money and power, but in relationships and persons".

"Dear brothers, dear sisters, at Christmas, God is poor: let charity be reborn," he said, urging people do "not let this Christmas pass without doing something good".

Remarking on the "so much consumerism that has packaged the mystery" of Christmas, Francis said there was a danger the day's meaning could be forgotten.

But, he said, Christmas focuses attention on "the problem of our humanity - the indifference produced by the greedy rush to possess and consume."

"Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor," Francis said. "He did not so much talk about poverty as live it, to the very end, for our sake."

He urged people to "not let this Christmas pass without doing something good."

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When the Mass ended, the pope, pushed in a wheelchair by an aide, moved down the basilica with a life-sized statue of Baby Jesus on his lap, flanked by several children carrying bouquets.

The statue then was placed in a manger in a creche scene in the basilica.

Pope Francis, 86, has been using a wheelchair to navigate long distances due to a painful knee ligament, and a cane for shorter distances.