Pope Francis speaks to Ukraine, the Middle East in the Christmas Urbi et Orbi message

Pope Francis delivered his annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and to the world) Christmas message and blessing from the Vatican on Wednesday, calling for world peace and an end to ongoing conflicts.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church addressed the war between Russia and Ukraine directly and called for “the courage needed to open the door to dialogue” when he gave a summary of the tragedy facing the country this year.

“May the sound of weapons be silenced in Ukraine,” Francis said from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below. He also called for “actions to negotiate and unite, to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

Francis, 88, is marking the 12th anniversary of his papacy by calling for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Lebanon, Mali, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

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Francis, who has been Pope since 2013, was criticized by Ukrainian officials this year when they said the country should have the courage of a “white flag” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously issued a decision that he would not engage in peace talks without the restoration of Ukraine’s pre-war borders. But Zelenskyy has shown an increasing willingness in the weeks since Donald Trump’s re-election as US president to enter into negotiations.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media on July 8, 2023 in Lviv, Ukraine. (Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Francis, who has recently strongly criticized Israel’s military operation in Gaza, renewed his call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

He called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “very dire” and called for “the doors of dialogue and peace (to) be opened.”

Demonstrators and relatives of hostages taken by Hamas when the militant group attacked Oct. 7 in Israel protested on the National Mall in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Christmas marked the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that is expected to bring some 32 million Catholics to Rome, according to the Associated Press.

Pilgrims arrive early Wednesday to walk through the main Holy door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. Walking through the Holy Department is one of the ways the faithful can receive forgiveness, or the forgiveness of sins during the Jubilee, a quarter-century tradition that began in 1300.

Thousands listened to Pope Francis deliver his Christmas message and blessing from the Vatican on Dec. 25, 2024. (Vatican News/YouTube)

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On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first to walk through it, opening the 2025 Jubilee that he dedicated to hope.

The Catholic Holy Year, also known as the Jubilee, is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and forgiveness.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.