Pope Leo decried conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Leo, the first United States pope, said the story of Jesus' birth in a stable showed God had "pitched his fragile tent" among the people of the world.
"How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?" he asked.
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 criticised US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, did not mention Trump. In a Christmas Eve sermon, the pope said refusing to help the poor and strangers was tantamount to rejecting God himself.
Pope decries 'rubble and open wounds' of war
Leo lamented the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza several times recently and told journalists last month the only solution in the decades-long conflict must include a Palestinian state.
Displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents amid the rubble in the al Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. Source: Anadolu, Getty / Moiz Salhi
During Thursday's service, attended by thousands in St Peter's Basilica, Leo also lamented the conditions for the homeless worldwide and the destruction caused by war more broadly.
"Fragile is the flesh of defenceless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds," he said.
"Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths," Leo said.
Calls for an end to conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali
In an appeal during the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message and blessing given by the pope at Christmas and Easter, Leo called for an end to all global wars.
Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he lamented conflicts, political, social or military, in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and Thailand and Cambodia, among others.
Leo said people in Ukraine have been "tormented" by violence.
"May the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue."
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