"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 pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below.

Pope Francis in his Christmas message called for talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion two years ago.

Pope Francis said the story of Jesus' birth as a poor carpenter's son should instil hope that all people can make an impact on the world, as the pontiff on Tuesday led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas.

The Pope also addressed the war in Ukraine, calling for the “sound of arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine”

In his traditional Christmas message on 25 December, Pope Francis mentioned the war in Ukraine, calling for an end to it and for negotiations for a just peace. Source: European Pravda Details: Pope Francis devoted two sentences of his Christmas message to the mention of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.

BY AHMAD SHUAIBU ISA This year’s Christmas message from Pope Francis provides a moving and impactful reflection

Pope Francis has told Vatican bureaucrats to stop speaking ill of one another, calling gossip "an evil that destroys social life."

Pope Francis is expected to address the world's wars and conflicts in his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message to the faithful spoken from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican at noon on Wednesday,

Hope lives, Francis reminded the faithful on Christmas Eve, as he spoke of the blessed arrival of the Christ Child and the start of the Jubilee.