In his Homily on Christmas Day, 25 December 2025, Pope Leo XIV said:

“Dear brothers and sisters, since the Word was made flesh, humanity now speaks, crying out with God’s own desire to encounter us. The Word has pitched his fragile tent among us. How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold; and of those of so many other refugees and displaced persons on every continent; or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?

“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds. Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.”

The makeshift tented shelters in Gaza set up amongst the rubble of their obliterated communities provide little comfort for families as the winter weather drenches them with freezing rain. At least 3 babies have died this month of hypothermia unable to survive in the cold and wet conditions.

Israel continues to impose restrictions and delays on the humanitarian aid trying to get through to the civilians. This is a war crime. The United Nations working with partner agencies attempts to deliver humanitarian aid every day.

On Monday, out of nearly 4,000 pallets of aid offloaded at the crossings, about 65 per cent contained food supplies; 12 per cent carried shelter items; another 12 per cent were water, sanitation and hygiene items; and 7 per cent comprised health and nutrition supplies. Two thirds of the supplies were offloaded at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, and the remaining third at the Zikim crossing in the north. – OCHA.

The UN has to ask permission of the Israeli authorities, the occupying force, before aid can be delivered. Only some of it gets through – and yet it is all desperately needed.

For Christians, on December 25 they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. For two years there were no celebrations in Bethlehem because it is in Palestine, (aka The Occupied West Bank). Palestinian Christians felt they could not celebrate when a Genocide was taking place in Gaza. This year, however, they did take place.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the highest-ranking Catholic official in Palestine said:

“Here in Bethlehem, from where I send the Christmas message not only to Bethlehem but to the entire world, I have noticed the presence of light. And this is not just the light of the sun, but the light of your beautiful faces.”

“We decided to be light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world. “Today, we bring you peace, prayers, and hearts.”

For those Palestinians who wished to travel to Bethlehem they faced checkpoints and considerable barriers in order to get there.

In their Christmas Joint Message The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem spoke of hope amid times of hardship and stated:

“For we are fully aware that, despite a declared cessation of hostilities, hundreds have continued to be killed or suffer grievous injury.

“Many more have experienced violent assaults against themselves, their properties, and their freedoms—not only in the Holy Land, but also in neighbouring countries.”

For the ceasefire in Gaza has been broken multiple times and in The West Bank violence and killings continue. Farmers in The West Bank have had their crops destroyed, olive trees uprooted and buildings bulldozed. 72,000 families in the West Bank who grow crops or raise animals require urgent emergency assistance, according to a survey by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Families also reported limited access to water, movement restrictions and land access constraints, lack of available and affordable agricultural inputs, and high fuel and transport costs.

It is the systematic destruction of a people, their economy, and their culture by an extremely powerful occupying force which has unlimited resources backed by the US and Western countries.

So today, this Saturday of Christmas week, Peace campaigners in Orkney who are of all faiths and none, will meet on the Kirk Green Broad Street, Kirkwall, between 1 and 2pm to remember those who have lost their lives in the Gaza Genocide. Their message continues to one of Hope that a permanent ceasefire will come about; that Humanitarian Aid will no longer face restrictions and delays ; that Children will again be able to sleep in a warm and safe home ; and as Pope Leo XIV stated:

“When the fragility of others penetrates our hearts, when their pain shatters our rigid certainties, then peace has already begun.”

Fiona Grahame