Pope says true Christians can have no enemies
Pope Leo XIV reflects on martyrdom as a “birth into heaven” and on Christmas joy a the choice of "justice even at great cost,” making celebration possible even amid suffering.
On the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, celebrated on December 26, 2025, Pope Leo XIV reflected on what it means to be a Christian in the modern world, the Vatican News website reports.
Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to contemplate martyrdom not as an end, but as a beginning: a “birth into heaven” that reveals what it truly means to come into the light.
The Pope did not shy away from the realism of the present moment. Those who believe in peace and follow “the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs”, he noted, are often ridiculed or excluded, sometimes even accused of siding with enemies.
“Christians have no enemies, but brothers and sisters, whose dignity remains intact even when understanding fails,” he said.
According to him, the attractive power of goodness inevitably provokes resistance from those who cherish power and fear the exposure of injustice.
But even today, across the world, there are those who “choose justice even at great cost”, who place peace before fear and service of the poor before self-interest. From these choices, he said, “hope then sprouts”, making celebration possible even amid suffering.
The Pontiff also urged the international community to remember those who suffer for their faith and for their commitment to peace, stressing that no earthly power can surpass the work of God.
As previously reported by the UOJ, the Pope called for a 24-hour ceasefire in Ukraine at Christmas, without specifying a date.
