Pope Francis used his New Year message on Saturday to make a clear call to end violence against women, saying it was an insult to God.
Francis, 85, celebrated mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church celebrates both the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her annual World Day of Peace.
Francis appeared to be in good shape on Saturday after an inexplicable incident on New Year’s Eve where he attended a church service, but did not preside at the last minute as expected. Continue reading
At the beginning of mass on Saturday, he walked the entire length of the central nave of the basilica, unlike Friday evening when he emerged from a side entrance near the altar and watched from the sidelines.
Francis has sciatica, which causes leg pain and sometimes a flare up prevents him from standing for long periods.
Francis tied his New Year sermon around the themes of motherhood and women – he said it was they who held the threads of life together – and used it to make one of his strongest calls to date for an end to violence against them.
“And since mothers give life and women hold the world (together), let us all make greater efforts to nurture mothers and protect women,” said Francis.
“How much violence is directed against women! Enough! To hurt a woman means to insult God, who has accepted our humanity from a woman – not through an angel, not directly, but through a woman,” he said, referring to Jesus Mother mary.
During an Italian television show last month, Francis told a woman who had been beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women are doing something “almost satanic”.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two years ago, Francis has spoken out several times against domestic violence, which has increased in many countries since the lockdown captured many women with their perpetrators.
Public participation in the fair was lower than in some previous years due to COVID restrictions. Italy, which surrounds Vatican City, reported a record 144,243 coronavirus cases on Friday and recently imposed new measures such as the obligation to wear masks outdoors.
In the text of his World Day of Peace Message issued last month, Francis said that nations should divert money spent on armaments to invest in education and called for rising military costs at the expense of social services.
The annual message of peace is sent to heads of state and international organizations, and the Pope gives a signed copy to leaders who are visiting him at the Vatican next year.
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