translated from Spanish: Pope celebrates Christmas Eve Mass after turbulent year

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis assured parishioners on Christmas Eve that God loves everyone—”even the worst of us” — during the celebration of Christ’s birth after a year full of scandals and opposition. While the choir was singing the classic “The First Christmas”, Francis walked through the central corridor of St. Peter’s Basilica and discovered an image of the baby Jesus at the birth at the foot of the altar.
Francis said that the birth of Jesus, which Christians commemorate at Christmas, is a reminder of God’s unconditional love for all, “even the worst of us.” God doesn’t love you because you think or act the right way,” he said. “You may have misdeceived, you may have made an absolute mess, but the Lord still loved you.” But, at the same time, he asked the parishioners to allow themselves to be transformed by the “crazy love” of Jesus and to stop trying to change others.” We should not wait for our neighbor to be good before we do something good for him, or for the church to be perfect before we love it, or for others to respect us before serving them. Let’s start with ourselves,” he said. Francis has frequently emphasized his call to “personal conversion” during his papacy, with the belief that true change cannot be imposed from above, but found from within. Similarly, he has criticized the attitude of purists who have lashed out against their openness to homosexuals, divorcees and the marginalized. Critics have taken advantage of the financial and sexual abuse scandals that have tainted the 83-year-old Argentinian’s papacy. It is possible that the scandals follow Francis in 2020, with the continuation of a corruption investigation around hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to the Holy See and the disclosure of a report on what the Vatican knew about the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was excommunicated for sexually abusing minors and adults. The pope’s evening mass marks the beginning of a busy schedule for Francis, including his Christmas homily, noon prayers, the New Year’s vigil and the January 1 mass.



Original source in Spanish