Rome, 26 Dec. (LaPresse) – During today's Angelus, on the feast of St Stephen, Pope Leo XIV recalled the example of the first martyr of Christianity, who put peace and the poor before fear and selfishness. Addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused on the figure of St. Stephen, who courageously gave his life as the first witness of the Christian faith, to ensure that even today ‘everywhere in the world there are those who choose justice even if it costs them, those who put peace before their fears, those who serve the poor instead of themselves.’ This style is inspired by ‘the birth of the Son of God among us,’ who ‘calls us to live as children of God.’ Except that ‘that of Jesus and those who live like Him’ is ‘a rejected beauty’: its ‘magnetic force’, in fact, has from the beginning aroused ‘the reaction of those who fear for their power, of those who are unmasked in their injustice by a goodness that reveals the thoughts of their hearts’. To date, however, no power has been able to ‘prevail over the work of God.’ So much so that there are those who make uncomfortable and costly choices, putting others before their own selfishness: here, says the Pontiff, ‘hope then sprouts, and it makes sense to celebrate despite everything.’ And if, in the conditions of ‘uncertainty’ and “suffering” of today's world, joy ‘would seem impossible,’ those who today ‘believe in peace’ and choose ‘the unarmed way of Jesus and the martyrs’ often find themselves ‘ridiculed, pushed out of public discourse and not infrequently accused of favouring adversaries and enemies.’
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