Pope Francis urges world not to ignore plight of millions of migrants

Pope Francis has urged the world not to ignore the plight of millions of migrants who are driven from their land in his Christmas Eve Mass. The pontiff compared them to Mary and Joseph, recounting the Biblical story how they had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. Many migrants, he said, were being forced to flee from leaders who see no problem in shedding innocent blood.

Francis will give his traditional Urbi et Orbi Christmas address today. So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary, the 81-year-old Argentine pontiff, himself the grandson of Italian migrants, told worshippers in St Peter's Basilica in



the Vatican City.

The leader of the world's estimated 1.2bn Roman Catholics also stressed that faith demanded that foreigners be welcomed everywhere. Pope Francis has made defence of migrants around the world a major theme of his papacy. The pontiff's plea for hope came as fresh tensions simmered in the West Bank following Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The announcement by US President Donald Trump on December 6 unleashed demonstrators and clashes, including in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank where Christians will mark the birth of Jesus at a midnight mass.