Israeli officials fear the pope’s vocal criticisms and symbolic gestures - such as this year’s nativity scene in St Peter’s Square featuring baby Jesus resting on a Palestinian keffiyeh - may influence global public opinion.

Created by Bethlehem artists Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi, the nativity scene prominently features Palestinian materials, including olive wood, a symbol of Palestinian resilience.

During its unveiling, Pope Francis condemned the global arms industry for profiting from human suffering and reiterated his call for an end to all wars, urging the faithful to remember those suffering in the holy land.

The display, praised by many as a message of solidarity and peace, drew backlash from Israel’s supporters, who accused the Vatican of promoting a pro-Palestinian agenda.

  • @OccamsTeapot
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    12017 hours ago

    This is NotTheOnion material. Like, are you actually mad that the fucking Pope is not on board with killing children?

    • @[email protected]
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      15 hours ago

      Ofcourse the catholic church is not onboard with murdering children. How will the clergy get laid if all the children are killed?

      But on a more serious note, the current pope is actually doing a decent job of calling out atrocities and promoting some of the decent aspects of their faith, and not propping up all of the bad stuff as god’s will

      • @[email protected]
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        115 hours ago

        He’s also a transphobe who uses his platform to attack trans people.

        The current pope is good at PR, that’s all.

        • @kreskin
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          1913 hours ago

          Its a strange world isnt it. In the last election I was shouted down on here by trans supporters who said you cant expect perfection from everyone, because Harris supported trans rights, but also was a supporter of Israeli genocide as well, which I thought was a bigger issue for humanity to address immediately with the limited time to apply pressure that was available.

          So I’ll just parrot that right back now along with the idea that “you dont tease the fat guy at the gym”. Following the metaphor, the pope is currently on the treadmill shedding some pounds, so I’m going to hold my derisive comments about that particular rapist cult for the moment. And he’s a whole lot better than all the other popes of my lifetime. But next time he opens his mouth about trans rights, sure, kick his arse.

        • @[email protected]
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          2315 hours ago

          He’s about as with it as you can expect the Pope to be. The Catholic Church has never really lead the charge of progress

          • @[email protected]
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            121 minutes ago

            The fact that he’s not advocating for the wholesale execution of trans people out in the street makes some people think he’s some kind of “crazy” pro LGBT “corruptor” of good Christian families.

            At least here where I am, a stone’s throw away from Palestine, these are not topics that are dealt with with a lot of open mindedness. I hate “hate the sin not the sinner” just as much as anyone else on Lemmy, but I’ve seen the effect his rhetoric (specifically on gay people) has had and it’s certainly better than Benedictus 16 before him.

            I don’t agree with everything he says (I attended a Catholic school, which is never a faith-enhancing experience) but I’m damn certain that he’s slowly dragging most of the Catholic faithful kicking and screaming into the 21st century when he just as easily could have been ten times worse on social issues. As far as a pope goes, this is pretty much the best case scenario as far as this stuff is concerned. The industrial-scale child abuse still needs a lot of work though. Let’s not kid ourselves.

            Now if only he knew what a compiler is.

          • @njm1314
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            39 hours ago

            Is he? Is he really as with it as I can expect the pope to be? Is stopping the mass molestation and rape of children really too much to ask?

          • Echo Dot
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            08 hours ago

            Progressiveness is hard, you have to hate someone.

            I have to say as far as inspirational quotes go, it lacks something.

            • @MutilationWave
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              03 hours ago

              Do you mean like, the way war drives technical innovation?

              I don’t get it.

              • Echo Dot
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                13 hours ago

                No I’m making fun of the fact of that the pope is a “good Pope” because he’s slightly better than the previous popes. It’s a pretty low bar.

    • irotsoma
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      1616 hours ago

      But, security… Aren’t tens of thousands of children’s lives a small price to pay to stop the violence?

      /s

      • @SlopppyEngineer
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        514 hours ago

        Even in they old testament, only the first born children were killed.

        • @[email protected]
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          32 hours ago

          That’s what the Egyptians did. When the Israelites spared the Midianite women, Moses got angry at them and commanded them to kill everyone. Except the virgin girls, probably for completely wholesome Christian reasons.

        • @MutilationWave
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          3 hours ago

          Yeah except for all those other times when everyone was slaughtered down to their animals. Or you know, that time when the entire human and air-breathing animal population of the planet except for 0.0000000001% were killed.

          Yeah those plagues weren’t too bad comparatively.