For his first Angelus address of 2025, from the window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis had a thought for mothers “whose hearts are full of pain” because of wars. He also renewed his call to forgive the debts of the poorest peoples on the occasion of Jubilee 2025.
“Mothers always cherish their children,” Pope Francis told the thousands of faithful gathered in a particularly full St. Peter's Square on January 1.
Paying homage to the Virgin Mary on this day when the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, Pope Francis had a thought for all the “moms” of the world.
“Let us think of all the mothers who rejoice in their hearts, and of all the mothers whose hearts are full of pain, because their children have been taken away by violence, by pride, by hatred,” he invited, before adding: "How inhuman is war, which breaks the hearts of mothers!"
In his appeals following the short catechesis, the Pope recalled that his predecessor Paul VI had made January 1st a special day for peace in 1968.
“I express my deepest gratitude to all those who work for dialogue and negotiation in all regions of conflict,” the Pope said to the large crowd.
“Let us pray for an end to the fighting on every front,” he continued, mentioning in particular "the martyred Ukraine," Gaza, Myanmar, and the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Leaving aside his notes, the Pope shared that he had seen images of the destruction caused by war on Italian television. “Brothers and sisters, war destroys. War is always a defeat. Always,” he insisted.
Forgiveness of debts
On the occasion of Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis renewed his call to forgive the debts of the poorest, so that “no person, no family, no people” is “crushed by debt.”
Pope John Paul II had made this same call for the Great Jubilee 2000.
Francis encouraged the leaders of countries with a Christian tradition to “set a good example” by canceling or reducing the debts of the poorest countries.
Debt forgiveness is a key feature of the Jubilee years, which have their origins in Jewish tradition. In the Old Testament, the Law of Moses established a “year of grace” every 50 years, during which all slaves were freed, all debts forgiven, and the land left to rest.
In the 'bull of indiction' for the Jubilee 2025, the text that sets the spiritual course of the Holy Year for Catholics, Pope Francis issued a "pressing invitation” to rich countries, asking them to recognize the gravity of many decisions and to “forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them.”
The 88-year-old pontiff repeated this appeal during his Urbi et Orbi blessing on December 25, as well as in his message for peace on January 1.
“I invite the international community to act to forgive foreign debt, recognizing the existence of an ecological debt between North and South,” he wrote, calling for a new financial structure and a world financial charter, based on solidarity and harmony between peoples.
