Pope speaks out on conflicts, migrants

Backs UN efforts in Syria, Libya, praises those who shelter refugees

Pope Francis offered a Chris-tmas message on Friday of mitigated hope for an end to the world’s conflicts, backing recent accords on Syria and Libya and praising those who shelter migrants. “We pray... That the agreement reached in the United Nations may succeed in halting as quickly as possible the clash of arms in Syria,” he said, while urging that “the agreement on Libya be supported by all.”

Delivering his Christ-mas message from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basi-lica, the 79-year-old pontiff touched on several other conflict zones, including Iraq, Yemen, the DR Co-ngo, Burundi and South Sudan following a year of violence and suffering that forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. The Pope, addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims in the sunny square, also decried “brutal acts of terrorism, particularly the recent massacres which took place in Egyptian airspace, in Beirut, Paris, Bamako and Tunis.”

After a year that saw more than one million migrants reach Europe, Pope Francis praised those who shelter them, asking God to “repay all those, both individuals and states, who generously work to provide assistance and welcome” to them.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics also used the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address to denounce the destruction of cultural heritage.

In a clear reference to ISIS, he said their “atrocities... Do not even spare the historical and cultural patrimony of entire peoples.” ISIS has launched a campaign of destruction against buildings and mo-numents that fall outside its harsh interpretation of Islam, ranging from Chris-tian churches to Muslim graves, as well as ancient treasures like the temples of Palmyra.