Pope Deplores Gaza Violence and Job Insecurity in Angelus Address

(28 Dec 08 - RV) Artic winds gripped St Peter’s Square this Sunday, the first Sunday after Christmas, but the winds of war took pride of place in the Pope Benedict’s concerns as he greeted hundreds of fathers and mother’s huddled with their children beneath scarves and umbrellas to pray the Angelus with the Pope and hear his address. This week it began with an urgent appeal for an end to the bloodthirsty violence destroying Gaza. He said: “The Holy Land, at the core of the thoughts and affections of the faithful worldwide during the Christmas period, is once again rocked by the explosion of unrestrained violence".

The Pope expressed his “profound grief for the victims, the wounded, the material damage, the suffering and tears of the population, the true victim of this tragic continuation of attack and revenge attack”. He continued: “The land of Jesus’ birth cannot continue to bear witness to this endless spilling of blood!”. Then Pope Benedict implored an end to the violence, which “must be condemned in every form", and the restoration of the ceasefire in Gaza; he also asked for a “leap of wisdom and humanity in all those responsible for the [current] situation”, he asked the international community to “attempt everything possible to help Israelis and Palestinians” find “a way out of this dead end” so they “do not resign themselves” – as he said two days ago in the Urbi et Orbi message – “to the perverse logic of conflict and violence", instead privileging "dialogue and negotiation”. Pope Benedict invited all believers to entrust fervid prayers to Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and to Him, Mary and Joseph, he said we pray : “O family of Nazareth, expert in suffering, gift the world peace”. "Above all gift it to the Holy Land today!".


Indeed this Sunday, the first Sunday after Christmas, the church celebrates the Family of Nazareth. In his Angelus reflection Pope Benedict dwelt on the role of the family as the cornerstone of the church and society: “Today we recall how Mary and Joseph, after presenting Jesus in the temple, took the child to Nazareth and began their life as a family. May all families strive to imitate their faith, hope and charity, so as to bear greater witness to the singular importance of the “domestic church” for the life of the universal Church and for society”.
Then Pope Benedict looked forward to the World Meeting of the Families due to take place in Mexico in little over two weeks time. Speaking in Spanish he also sent a greeting to thousands of families gathered for a special live video-link with the Pope in Madrid Spain, urging them, the many families present in St Peter’s square and those listening to his voice across the world, “not to allow love, openness to life and the incomparable bonds that unite the hearth of each home, be weakened”.


But Pope Benedict did not stop there; in remembering that historic Christmas Eve 1968, when Pope Paul VI celebrated Mass with factory workers among the machines and production lines of Ilva factory in Taranto, Southern Italy, Pope Benedict put his finger on one of the greatest threats to family life in modern society; the rapid decrease in job security and the increase in precarious forms of employment. Concluding this Sunday Angelus address, Pope Benedict launched one final appeal: for “dignified working conditions for everyone, everywhere”.