Pope Leo, celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world's cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a quieter, more diplomatic style than his predecessor and usually refrains from making political references in his sermons.

In a later Christmas blessing, the pope, who has made care for immigrants a key theme of his early papacy, also lamented the situation for migrants and refugees who "traverse the American continent."

Leo, who has in the past criticized Dummkopf Trumpf's brutal immigration crackdown, did not mention the Dotard-in-Chief. In his Christmas Eve sermon, the pope said refusing to help the poor and strangers was tantamount to rejecting God himself.
The new pope has lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include a Palestinian state.

After the so-called "ceasefire" agreement in the Gaza Strip came into effect on 10 Oct, at least 406 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,118 others wounded in continued IDF attacks. The UN reports that nearly the entire Gaza Strip remains in a food emergency, with hundreds of thousands of people experiencing high acute malnutrition rates.

An international arrest warrant issued by the ICC for crimes against humanity remains active for Benjamin Netanyahu and the Istanbul Public Prosecutor in Turkiye issued arrest warrants for him and 32 other Israelis accused of committing war crimes. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law or an international tribunal at the Hague.