Pope Francis pleads for care of poorest, most vulnerable affected by COVID

Every year, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Pope Francis gives a special message on Christmas and this year he has a very special message for people. As the concerns over the new variant of Omicron continues to rise, the Pope has urged people to take care of the weakest impacted due to the COVID.

He shared a tweet earlier on Friday, urging everyone to take care of people, especially those who have been hit hard by the pandemic. In the Tweet, he stated that God comes to be with us and wants us to care for our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable. He also stated that people should care about everyone who has been hit worst by the pandemic and to whom the pandemic threatens to marginalise even further.

Pope Francis criticised bureaucrats

On Thursday, December 23, Pope Francis asked bishops and bureaucrats to embrace humility this Christmas season, saying pride and self-interest were perverting their spiritual life and ruining the church's mission. He criticised Vatican officials for perceived moral and personal shortcomings, particularly those who shelter behind Catholic Church traditions rather than helping out the neediest with humility, according to AP News.

He also stated that the humble are those who are concerned not only with the past but also with the future since they know how to look ahead and to spread their branches. According to AP News, the head of the Catholic Church continued by stating that on the other side, the proud grow rigid, and cage themselves in that repetition, feeling certain about what they know and terrified of anything new because they cannot control it.

'Prideful are consumed by their own interests': Pope Francis 

The Pope also stated that the prideful are consumed by their own interests and do not learn from their mistakes and are not truly open to forgiveness and it is something that they need to prevent. Since becoming Pope Francis in 2013, he has used his Christmas message to rail against the bureaucracy, the Curia, and the resistance to reform and revitalise the institution.

(Image: AP)