Vatican to Christians: Spend less on Christmas

Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed for reduced expenses on Christmas celebration and gifting this year, urging that the difference should be sent to those in war-ravaged Ukraine.

The Pope made this plea at the end of his weekly general audience, highlighting the hunger, the death, and also the shortage of nurses and doctors due to the heavy Russian shelling in Ukraine.

“It is nice to celebrate Christmas. But let’s lower the level of Christmas spending a bit.

“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.

Since the Russian attack against Ukraine started in February 2022, over 16,295 civilian casualties have been recorded in Ukraine between February and October 2022.

Over 6,430 deaths have been recorded, including 2,511 men, 1,716 women, 167 girls and 201 boys,as well as 34 children and 1,801 adults whose sex is yet unknown, persecondnews reports.

The use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple lunch rocket system, missile and air strikes are most of the cause of civilian casualties.