On New Year’s Day, Pope Francis celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, by calling for global prayers for peace and a renewed commitment to safeguarding human life. During a homily delivered at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, the Pope emphasized the vital role of Mary in fostering a civilization of peace. He urged believers to protect life at every stage, underscoring its sacredness.
A Call to Recognize God’s Humanity
Pope Francis reflected on the temptation to imagine God as abstract or distant, tied to fleeting emotions or ideas. Instead, he reminded the faithful of Christ’s tangible humanity, born of a woman, calling for a personal relationship with Him. Jesus, he noted, demonstrates God’s care for the vulnerable, reaching out to those in need of compassion, attention, and tenderness.
The Pope urged protection for life in all its forms, from unborn children to the elderly and the suffering. He described this commitment as the cornerstone of building a civilization of peace. On this World Day of Peace, he called for efforts to restore dignity to wounded lives and to embrace respect for life from conception to natural death.
Ending his message, Pope Francis entrusted the world to Mary, praying for the rebirth of hope and peace among all nations.