Pope Francis has given his Christmas Day blessing to worshippers gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. He spoke to tens of thousands from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica condemning arms production and said, “to say ‘no’ to war means saying ‘no’ to weaponry”. Pope Francis said if human beings find “instruments of death” in their hands sooner or later they will use them.

He suggests that people who desire only peace have no idea how many public funds are being spent on arms and described the profits which come from weapons sales as that which moves “the puppet strings of war.” The Pope pleaded for an end to the military operations and called for humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In Bethlehem, where Jesus, the Christian faith’s messiah, was born, Christmas celebrations were cancelled. Pope Francis, during his Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, referenced Jesus’ birth in a stable in Bethlehem and said, “Our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war.”