Pope Francis has attacked the “insatiable greed” of today’s consumerism, using his Christmas homily to urge people to make “sharing and giving” more a part of their lives.
“Mankind became greedy and voracious,” the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics said in an address to thousands of followers in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Christmas Eve.
“In our day, for many people, life’s meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects.
“An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive.”
The birth of Christ pointed to a new way to live “not by devouring and hoarding, but by sharing and giving”, he said during the Christmas Eve mass. We “must not lose our footing or slide into worldliness and consumerism”, he said.
People should ask themselves: “Do I really need all these material objects and complicated recipes for living? Can I manage without all these unnecessary extras and live a life of greater simplicity?”
Pope Francis, who turned 82 earlier this month, will deliver his sixth Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day to pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square.
The mass on Christmas Eve is one of the highlights of the Vatican’s liturgical year. Monday’s service starts a busy week for the pope, which includes a Christmas Day message and blessing, a 26 December prayer, New Year’s Eve vespers and a New Year’s Day mass.
As Francis prepared to preside over celebrations in Rome, Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin was in Iraq to celebrate Christmas with the Chaldean Catholic community, a clear sign of the pope’s solidarity.
Catholics are among the religious minorities devastated by Islamic State-inspired violence that has driven tens of thousands from their homes in Iraq.
Parolin met Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Monday in Baghdad.
The Vatican has for years expressed concern about the exodus of Christians from communities that have existed since the time of Jesus.
This year, Francis joined Orthodox leaders to decry what he called the “murderous indifference” of world powers to violence and suffering in the Middle East.
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