Pope Francis, forced to pray the Angelus from his residence due to a bad cold and is preserved for Christmas and the beginning of the Jubilee

The cold is enveloping the city of Rome two days before the Jubilee. For this reason, and with the aim of preserving himself for the universal appointment, Pope Francis prayed this Sunday the traditional Angelus from his residence in Santa Marta and not from the well-known window overlooking the St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. Jorge Mario Bergoglio himself admitted on Friday that he was “very cold” and in a statement issued on Saturday by the director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni it was confirmed that “due to the intense cold” and the “cold symptoms that have manifested in recent days”; the Holy Father was going to lead the Angelus prayer from the chapel of Santa Marta, “also in view of the next week’s commitments“.

The cloudy atmosphere in St. Peter’s Square in Rome has not prevented the faithful from following the words of Pope Francis, who, from the chapel of Santa Marta, immediately expressed his regret for not being seen, as usual, from the Palace Apostolic: “Dear brothers and sisters, I am very sorry not to be with you in the square. But I’m improving and we have to take precautions“.

On other occasions the Argentine Pontiff had prayed the Angelus from the House of Santa Marta. In fact, in December of last year he had to change his agenda commitments and cancel his trip to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) for Cop 28 due to a respiratory inflammation.

After the Angelus, the Pontiff shared some geopolitical reflections, lamenting, first of all, the consequences of Cyclone Chido, which has caused deaths and injuries in several places in Africa. Bergoglio has launched a “message of hope, peace and reconciliation” in these moments of great difficulty.

The Pope has not missed the opportunity to remember the current situation in Ukraine“which continues to be hit by attacks against its cities” and where “schools, hospitals and churches” are also damaged. And he has stressed, once againthe “pain” in Gaza and their “children” among the “bombings of schools and hospitals.” As a universal spiritual leader, the Holy Father asks that “we pray so that Christmas can stop the fire” in “the entire world”, in the face of so much “cruelty.”

This Christmas will be much more intense than usual in Rome, as the Pope’s traditional Christmas celebrations will be combined with the start of the next Jubilee 2025. Next Tuesday, December 24, at 7:00 p.m., the opening of the Holy Door from St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, officially beginning after 25 years the new Jubilee of the Catholic Church; where shortly after the Christmas Mass.

On Christmas Day, at 12:00 p.m., one of the most solemn moments for Catholics around the world will take place, that is, the famous blessing The city and the worldto the city of Rome and to the world, from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican by the birth of jesus. The inaugural path of the Jubilee will continue with the opening of the following Holy Doors, spread across other points of the Eternal City.

On December 26, throughout the morning, Pope Francis will also open the Holy Door of the Roman prison of Rebibbiaone of the most important in Italy, where the detainees are waiting expectantly for the arrival of the Holy Father. On December 29, at 10:00 a.m., the mass and the following opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran will take place.

After the traditional Angelus for New Year’s Day at 12:00 noon, at 5:00 p.m. it will be time for the Holy Door of the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore and on January 5, at 10:00 a.m. , the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls will take place. Four basilicas and a prison will begin, in the middle of Christmas, the next Jubilee dedicated to the Pilgrims of Hope. A Jubilee that, for the Holy Father, is found within the “heart.”