The Pope often takes time during his Christmas appearances to call for peace across the world, but there's no evidence he wants to replace the festival with a day dedicated to peace.
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00:00No, the Pope isn't replacing Christmas with a Feast of Peace.
00:09Social media users are claiming that Pope Francis has announced that the Catholic Church
00:13will celebrate a Feast of Peace, or a Party of Peace, instead of Christmas this year.
00:18Some of the posts share the claim with a link or screenshot of an article from Argentinian
00:22news outlet El Cronista making the same allegation.
00:26Ultimately, there's no proof that the Pope has made any such announcement.
00:29The El Cronista article has since been taken down and it had not responded to our requests
00:34for comment as of the time of this report.
00:36The social media posts sharing the claim also provide zero evidence and rehash debunked
00:42conspiracy theories linking the Pope to Satanism and others that he wanted to get rid of Christmas
00:47to appease Muslims.
00:48Christmas is one of the most important dates in the Church calendar and a central part
00:52of Christian doctrine.
00:54Indeed, Vatican News, the Holy See's news portal, has already posted the schedule for
00:59the Pope's liturgies during the Christmas season.
01:01He's due to hold Mass on Christmas Eve, an address and blessing on Christmas Day, and
01:06yet more Masses on New Year's Day and the Epiphany.
01:09It's possible that there was some confusion over the Pope's previous Christmas messages
01:13and the idea of a Feast of Peace.
01:15In the past, he's used his Christmas message as an opportunity for calls for peace, drawing
01:20parallels between the life of Jesus Christ and current events.
01:23For example, last year he said that children dying in wars, including Gaza and the wider
01:28Holy Land, were the little Jesuses of today, pointing at their childhoods that have been
01:33decimated by violence.
01:35He also said that Israeli strikes were reaping an appalling harvest of civilians and condemned
01:40the attacks by Hamas, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
01:45The year before, Pope Francis urged an end to the senseless war in Ukraine, calling for
01:50peace and for people to help the homeless, immigrants, refugees and the poor.
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