Pope says he sounds like a donkey when he sings

Although the past year may bring both happy and painful memories, he said, it also challenges Christians to ponder on whether world events occurred according to God’s will or through people’s plans, which are “often loaded with private interests, an unquenchable thirst for power and gratuitous violence”.

“For this reason, the birth of the Son of God inaugurates a new era, a new computation of time, the era which witnesses the fulfilment of the ancient promise”.

Francis didn’t take his eyes off the realities of the world, acknowledging during his noontime Angelus address on Friday that “we all know a New Year doesn’t change everything, and that many problems from yesterday will still be there tomorrow”.

“The Church on so many occasions feels the joy and the duty of lifting up her song to God with these words of praise”, the Pope said in his homily. In his sermon, the pontiff said that overcoming “the indifference that thwarts solidarity” was essential to finding peace, urging his followers to combat the “torrent” of injustice and violence in the world.

Following the celebration of Vespers and the benediction of the Eucharist, Pope Francis made a brief visit to the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square.

He cautioned that “the enemy of peace isn’t only war, but also indifference”.

He highlighted the men, women and children risking their lives to flee war, hunger and persecution.

Earlier in the day, in his homily at a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, the pope condemned the “arrogance of the powerful” that demeans the weak, “relegating them to the most squalid outskirts of our world”.

The World Day of Peace is marked every first day of January, the first day of every New Year.

The pope said Christians must interpret the signs given by God to truly see his merciful love.