Pope warns… spend less at Xmas, send money to Ukraine
Pope Francis, the leader of the Vatican City, has called on people to spend less on Christmas and New year, so as to send money to those suffering in war-ravaged Ukraine.
“It is nice to celebrate Christmas. But let’s lower the level of Christmas spending a bit,” Francis said in his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, December 14.
“Let’s have a more humble Christmas, with more humble gifts. Let’s send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who need it,” he said.
The Ukrainians “are suffering so much. They are hungry, cold. So many people are dying because there are no doctors or nurses,” the pope said.
The pope’s plea comes as Ukraine’s Western allies pledged an additional one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in emergency winter aid to help the country withstand Russia’s missiles on energy and infrastructure.