The Pope has shared a Christmas message marking the start of the 2025 Holy Year for Catholics around the world

In his Christmas 2024 address “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”), Pope Francis called for peace in a world torn by conflict. It came as Christmas marks the start of the 2025 Holy Year, which is expected to bring an estimated 32 million Catholics to Rome.

“I invite every individual and all people of all nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of guns and to overcome divisions,” the pontiff told a crowd of thousands from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. of people in the square below.

called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia “Achieving a just and lasting peace” and ending a war that has left tens of thousands dead since the large-scale occupation of Moscow more than two years ago. The conflict did not take a break for the holiday, because Russia did what it said it would “mass strike” targeting energy facilities Christmas Day in Ukraine.

Pope Francis also repeated his call for a ceasefire Israel-Hamas waris calling Humanitarian crisis in Gaza “extremely serious” and called for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

He encouraged people around the world to “tear down all walls of separation”, remembering children suffering from war and famine, the elderly living alone, those who fled their homelands and those who were persecuted for their beliefs.

Pilgrims lined up early Wednesday to pass through the great Holy Door at the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica for the Christmas Mass. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first through the door to inaugurate the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

Passing through the Holy Door is a way believers can obtain an indulgence, or forgiveness of sins, during the Jubilee, which has taken place every quarter of a century since the 1300s.

Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego, says: “When you walk through the door, you feel so humbled that once you enter, it’s almost like a release, a release of emotions”… , you feel that now you are able to leave everything in God’s hands . Look, I’m getting emotional. It’s just a great experience.”

Visitors were subjected to security checks before entering the Holy Gate amid fresh security fears following a deadly incident. Attack on the Christmas market in Germany. Many stopped to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross as they entered the basilica, which is dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.

Beauty within a the newly restored St. Peter’s Basilica It was discovered after extensive restoration work in preparation for the anniversary year.

One of the most important restorations Bernini’s umbrellaa cover sitting on it Saint Peter’s tombit removes centuries of dirt to reveal its shimmering golden color. Also, St. Peter’s Chair, an important symbol of papal power dating back to AD 875, was restored.

CBS News reporter Chis Livesay, which you can watch in the video below, St. He got an inside look at the restoration work going on at Peter’s.

It is a rare occurrence that Christmas and Hanukkah fall at the same time

HanukkahJudaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights begins this year on Christmas Day, a celebration that has only occurred four times since 1900.

The juxtaposition of the calendar has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as last week’s aa Chicanukah party hosted by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, which brought together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for the traditional potato pancake latkes eaten on Hanukkah. , topped with guacamole and salsa.

Although Hanukkah is meant to be a joyous, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that this year it is being celebrated as such. There are wars in the Middle East and growing fears of widespread incidents of anti-Semitism. The holidays rarely coincide because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is incompatible with the Gregorian calendar, which places Christmas on December 25. The last time Hanukkah started on Christmas Day was in 2005.

Celebrations in Germany have been muted since Sunday’s attack

German notation a A car attack on a Christmas market Five people, including a 9-year-old child, were killed and 200 injured in Magdeburg on Friday. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his Christmas Day speech about the attack, saying there was “sadness, pain, horror and misunderstanding about what happened in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and “hate and violence must not have the last word.”

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor, who has been practicing medicine in Germany since 2006, was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily injury. Suspect X’s account describes him as a former Muslim and is full of anti-Islamic themes. He criticized the authorities for failing to fight the “Islamization of Germany” and expressed his support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

CBS News’ Chris Livesay and Reuters contributed to the report.