On New Year’s Day, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. This day also marks the 53rd annual World Day of Peace. In his address preceding the Angelus, Pope Francis said that Baby Jesus is God’s blessing for every man and woman, for a great family, and for the whole world. Jesus did not banish evil from the world, but defeated it at its root, the Pope said. The Pope also added that contemplating the crib, we see, through the eyes of faith, a renewed world, liberated from the reign of evil and subjected to the royal power of Christ, the Child lying in his crib. Finally, the Pope gave the traditional blessing „urbi et orbi” to Rome and to the world.
”Dear brothers and sisters, good morning. On the first day of the year, we celebrate Mary, the mother of God, the Virgin of Nazareth, who gave birth to Jesus the Savior. This child is God’s blessing to every man and woman, to the great family and the whole world. That is why today Our Lady blesses us with her son. She blesses us and the whole church. She blesses the whole world. Jesus, as the angels sing in Bethlehem, is a joy for all the people. He is God’s glory and peace for the people. For this reason, Saint Pope Paul VI wanted to devote the first day of the year to peace, prayer and realization of responsibility for peace. The message for 2020 is: peace is a path of hope, a path that we follow through dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion. Let us look at the mother and the son she shows us. Let us bless you at the beginning of the year. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”- says Pope Francis.