At the start of the new calendar year, Pope Francis emphasized the important role of women and mothers in society.
In his sermon on the feast of Mary, the Blessed Mother, the pontiff said on New Year's Day in St. Peter's Basilica that mothers should be encouraged and women should be protected.
“How much violence there is against women!” Complained the 85-year-old.
“That has to be over!
To hurt a woman means to insult God, who has assumed his human form from a woman. ”Unlike Vespers on New Year's Eve, Francis led the first service in 2022 again himself.
The church is mother, the church is woman, said the Argentine.
"Mothers and women do not look to the world to exploit it, but to give their lives." That is exactly what the world needs in these times of crises and wars.
Mothers know how to overcome obstacles and conflicts, how to make peace.
"We need people who can forge bonds of community who can counter the many barbed wires of division," said the Pope.
Mothers and women see with the heart, as the pontiff pointed out.
"And since mothers give life and women keep the world, we should all work to promote mothers and protect women," demanded Francis.
On New Year's Eve, the Pope had surprised when he did not lead the thanksgiving vespers in St. Peter's Basilica with the traditional hymn of praise "Te Deum" as planned, but only attended it.
Francis preached the sermon.
The reasons for the short-term change remained unclear: only minutes before the celebration began, Francis' chair was moved to another place in St. Peter's Basilica a little to the side of the altar.