Pope Francis has used his new year’s message to call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an insult to God.
Celebrating mass in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, on the day the Roman Catholic church marks its annual World Day of Peace, Francis wove his new year’s homily around the themes of motherhood and women, saying it was they who kept the threads of life together.
He used the message to make one of his strongest pleas yet for an end to violence against them.
“And since mothers bestow life, and women keep the world [together], let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to protect women,” he said.
“How much violence is directed against women. Enough. To hurt a woman is to insult God, who from a woman took on our humanity – not through an angel, not directly, but through a woman.”
Francis, 85, has spoken out in recent times about domestic violence.
Last month, during an Italian television programme, he told a woman who had been beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women engage in something that is “almost satanic”.
Francis appeared to be in good form on Saturday following an unexplained incident on New Year’s Eve where he attended a service but at the last minute did not preside over it as had been expected.
At the start of the mass, he walked the entire length of the central aisle of the basilica, as opposed to Friday night, when he emerged from a side entrance close to the altar and watched from the sidelines.
The pontiff suffers from a sciatica condition that causes pain in the legs, and sometimes a flare-up prevents him from standing for long periods.
Public participation at the mass was lower than in past years because of Covid restrictions, according to reports.
In the pope’s message for the World Day of Peace, issued last month, Francis said countries should divert money spent on armaments to invest in education, and lamented growing military costs at the expense of social services.
The annual peace message is sent to heads of state and international organisations. The pope also gives a signed copy to leaders who make official visits to him at the Vatican.
