POPE CALLS FOR GRATITUDE AND HOPE AT NEW YEAR’S EVE SERVICE

Mon 01 January 2024:

Pope Francis emphasized the importance of gratitude and hope at a solemn service on New Year’s Eve.

The 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church led the service on Sunday and delivered the homily with the traditional hymn of praise “Te Deum” (Thee, O God) in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

The faithful should live every day and every moment with gratitude and hope, said the pontiff. This is particularly important in view of the new year.

Francis did not mention the first anniversary of his predecessor’s death at the New Year’s Eve service. However, at the traditional Angelus prayer at midday (1100 GMT), he paid tribute to the late pope emeritus Benedict XVI.

He called on the people in St Peter’s Square to applaud Benedict and said: “We think of him with gratitude and admiration. He blesses us from heaven and accompanies us.”

Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl in the southern German state of Bavaria in 1927, died in the Vatican on December 31, 2022, at the age of 95.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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