Christmas: Pope Leo calls for kindness to strangers and the poor

In his Christmas Eve sermon, the pope said the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn showed followers that refusing to help those in need was tantamount to rejecting God himself.

Leo, who has made care for immigrants and the poor key themes of his early papacy, said Jesus’ birth showed God’s presence in every person as he led the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics into Christmas at a mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

Leo, the first US-born pope, is celebrating his first Christmas after being elected in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis. The pope, who has criticised Donald Trump’s divisive immigration crackdown, quoted a line from Pope Benedict XVI lamenting that the world does not care for children, the poor or foreigners.

Outside the basilica, about 5,000 people watched the service on screens from St Peter’s Square, holding umbrellas and wearing ponchos under a hard rain in Rome.

Leo, 70, came outside to greet them before the start of the mass.