Pope Francis, in Christmas Message, Laments Pandemic of Loneliness

This year, the pope highlighted international and civil conflicts as well as cases of personal alienation caused by the pandemic.

“Our capacity for social relationships is sorely tried; there is a growing tendency to withdraw, to do it all by ourselves, to stop making an effort to encounter others and do things together,” the pope said.

He prayed for “the victims of violence against women, which has increased in this time of pandemic,” for “young children and adolescents suffering from bullying and abuse” and for elderly people suffering from isolation.

The pope also pointed to an instance of the pandemic’s economic impact, the absence of pilgrims in the Holy Land and particularly Bethlehem, site of

Jesus

’ birth. Israel has banned almost all incoming air traffic to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, which has meant few visitors to Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Pope Francis as usual recited a list of hot spots around the world, especially in the Middle East and beginning with Syria, where a decadelong civil war has produced millions of refugees and internally displaced persons.

The pope spoke from his traditional spot on a loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square, addressing a crowd in the drizzling rain below. His remarks followed performances of the Vatican and Italian national anthems by contingents of the Vatican’s Swiss Guard and Italy’s carabinieri military police, respectively. Last Christmas, because of pandemic restrictions on gatherings, the pope spoke in the Hall of Blessings inside.

In another sign of a gradual return to normalcy, the pope this year celebrated Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with a socially distanced congregation of about 2,000—10 times as many as were permitted to attend the Mass last year.

Write to Francis X. Rocca at francis.rocca@wsj.com