On Wednesday, Pope Francis urged Americans to spend less on Christmas gifts and festivities and instead donate the money saved to victims in war-torn Ukraine.
“Celebrating Christmas is nice. Francis urged a slight reduction in Christmas spending at his weekly public audience at the Vatican.
“Let’s have a more modest Christmas and give more modest presents. Let’s send all we can to the people of Ukraine, who are in need,” he remarked.
After over ten months of combat, the war’s hardships have gotten worse as winter approaches and Russia continues to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Ruinous missile attacks have caused intermittent power, heating, water, and phone service outages in large portions of Ukraine.
The pain among Ukrainians “is immense. They are cold and hungry. The lack of nurses and doctors is killing so many people, the pope claimed.
To help the nation endure Russia’s assault, Ukraine’s Western partners committed an additional one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in critical winter supplies on Tuesday.
