Pope shares Christmas message, marking start of the 2025 Holy Year for Catholics worldwide
CBSN
Pope Francis delivered a plea for peace in a world torn by conflict in his 2024 Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the City and the World") address. It came as Christmas marked the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.
"I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions," the pontiff said, speaking from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to a crowd of thousands of people in the square below.
He urged negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to "achieve a just and lasting peace" and end the war that has killed tens of thousands since Moscow's full-scale invasion more than two years ago. The conflict did not pause for the holiday, as Russia carried out what it called a "massive strike" targeting energy facilities in Ukraine on Christmas Day.
Ten months after taking office, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday finally moved into his apartments in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, a historic papal residence that his predecessor had eschewed. In:
President Trump said the U.S. military "totally obliterated" every military target on Kharg Island during large-scale precision strikes Friday, thrusting the strategic small isle into the global spotlight. In:
Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighboring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States. In:
A Jewish school in Amsterdam was damaged after an overnight explosion against its exterior wall, Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement Saturday, denouncing the blast as a "cowardly act of aggression." In:
A growing number of social media users, including foreigners, are facing charges in the United Arab Emirates under the Gulf state's broad cybercrime laws for sharing or possessing digital content that depicts or comments on the impact of ongoing Iranian attacks, the advocacy group Detained in Dubai has warned. In:
CBS News asked its reporters and editors to gauge the local mood in foreign capital cities as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now nearing the two-week mark, leaves energy and stock markets in turmoil. In:
A court in Moscow on Thursday convicted 19 people of involvement in the 2024 shooting rampage in a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people and wounded over 600 in one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report. In:
Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, authorities said Wednesday. In:
Gold Coast, Australia — The Iranian women's soccer team left Australia minus seven of its members who were granted asylum, after tearful protests of their departure at Sydney Airport and frantic final efforts inside the terminal by Australian officials who sought to ensure the women understood they were being offered asylum. In:
A bus fire in Switzerland killed at least six people and left three others hospitalized with severe injuries, police said Tuesday. They said they were investigating whether the blaze was set by someone on the bus. In:
The White House is aware that Gulf countries have said they're running short on missile interceptors, and that they've said they're having to choose which objects to blow up — and which not to — multiple sources told CBS News. The White House has discussed the matter, the sources said. Margaret Brennan contributed to this report. In:
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security after a British military base there was targeted in an Iranian drone attack. In: