Vatican CITY:
Pope Francis on Saturday used his New Year’s message to make a clear call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an affront to God.
Francis, 85, celebrated mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks both the solemnity of Saint Mary, Mother of God, and the annual World Day of Peace.
Francis appeared in good shape on Saturday after an unexplained incident on New Year’s Eve where he attended a service but was not in charge at the last minute as he had expected.
At the start of Mass on Saturday, he walked the entire length of the basilica’s central aisle, unlike Friday night, when he emerged from a side entrance near the altar and watched from the sidelines.
Francis suffers from a sciatica condition that causes leg pain, and sometimes a flare-up prevents him from standing for long.
Francis wove his New Year’s sermon around the themes of motherhood and women — saying it was they who held the threads of life together — and used it to make one of his strongest appeals yet to end to the violence against them.
“And as mothers give birth and women hold the world (together), let’s all do more to promote mothers and protect women,” Francis said.
“How much violence is directed against women! Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God, who has taken our humanity from a woman.”
On an Italian television program last month, Francis told a woman who was beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women are committing something “almost satanic”.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago, Francis has spoken out several times against domestic violence, which has increased in many countries since the lockdowns trap many women with their abusers.
Public attendance at Mass was lower than in some previous years due to COVID restrictions. Italy, which surrounds the Vatican City, reported a record 144,243 coronavirus-related cases on Friday and recently imposed new measures, such as an obligation to wear masks outdoors.
In the text of his World Day of Peace Message released last month, Francis said countries should spend money on armaments to invest in education, and decry rising military costs at the expense of social services.
The annual peace message is sent to heads of state and international organizations, and the Pope gives a signed copy to leaders who will make official visits to the Vatican in the coming year.
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