Pope Francis says to have a simpler Christmas this year and donate the savings to Ukraine

Catholic News Service December 14, 2022

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Celebrating Christmas is important and beautiful, Pope Francis said, but he asked people to spend less on their celebrations this year and donate the savings to help the people of Ukraine.

As he has done at his general audiences since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the pope asked pilgrims and visitors Dec. 14 to express their “closeness to the martyred Ukrainian people, persevering in fervent prayer for these brothers and sisters of ours who are suffering so much.”

“Let’s reduce the level of Christmas spending a bit; let’s have a simpler Christmas with more modest gifts. Let’s send what we save to the people of Ukraine, who are suffering so much.”

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“Brothers and sisters, I tell you, they are suffering so very, very much in Ukraine,” the pope said.

“I want to draw your attention to Christmas, which is coming, and to the festivities,” he said. “It’s beautiful to celebrate Christmas and have parties, but let’s reduce the level of Christmas spending a bit; let’s have a simpler Christmas with more modest gifts.”

And, the pope said, “let’s send what we save to the people of Ukraine, who are suffering so much.”

People in the country are hungry and cold, he said.

“And many die because there are no doctors and nurses available,” the pope said.

Celebrate Christmas “at peace with the Lord,” he said, and “with Ukraine in your hearts.”

December 14, 2022https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/12/14/celebrate-christmas-ukraine-your-hearts-pope-francis-aid-244339

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JUNE 25, 2021

Americans, including Catholics, continue to have favorable views of Pope Francis

BY CLAIRE GECEWICZ

Pope Francis’ popularity dropped in the United States a few years ago amid a sex abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church. But Americans’ opinions of the pontiff have since rebounded, and between February 2020 and March 2021 – 13 months that included moves by Francis to expand the role of women in the church as well as a widening debate about whether President Joe Biden should be denied Communion – views toward Francis remained fairly stable.

About six-in-ten U.S adults (63%) have a “very” or “mostly” favorable opinion of Pope Francis, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March using the Center’s online American Trends Panel. This is nearly identical to the share of adults who had a favorable view of Francis in February 2020 (64%).

The pope’s favorability also has remained steady among U.S. Catholics, with 82% of Catholics in both the March 2021 and February 2020 surveys saying they have a favorable opinion of the pope.

These March 2021 and February 2020 results are not entirely comparable to figures from earlier surveys the Center conducted by telephone. Online and phone surveys sometimes produce disparate results, a polling phenomenon called a mode effect. One key difference is that online polls tend to result in fewer respondents declining to answer the question if there are fewer opportunities to express “no opinion.” This analysis indicates that any change in the results between January 2020 (when this question was last asked on the phone) and March 2021 was likely due to fewer people declining to give an opinion on the web survey.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/25/americans-including-catholics-continue-to-have-favorable-views-of-pope-francis/