During his first Christmas celebration as the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, Pope Francis asked those in attendance to not be afraid of God, and to open their hearts to him and their fellow man on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 year, celebrated Christmas Eve mass with 10,000 people inside the St. Peter Basilica while hundreds more watched on mega-screens placed in the outside square, Reuters reported.
"Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, he loves us, he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land. Jesus is the light who brightens the darkness. He is our peace," Pope Francis said during the mass, Reuters reported.
"(He) is bringing a new era into the Church, a Church that is focusing much more on the poor and that is more austere, more lively, a Church that cares about everyone in the world," Dolores Di Benedetto, one pilgrim who is from Argentina said, Reuters reported.
"... On the part of the people there are times of both light and darkness, fidelity and infidelity, obedience, and rebellion; times of being a pilgrim people and times of being a people adrift," he said, speaking in Italian.
"In our personal history too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. If we love God and our brothers and sisters, we walk in the light; but if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us," Pope Francis said, according to Reuters.
After speaking to those in attendance, he ended with a homily: "Man can choose between darkness and light," according to Reuters. More than 300 cardinals, bishops and priests also attended the mass, Reuters reported.
Giacchino Sabello, another pilgrim from Italian, said he never attended midnight mass, but the current pope made him want to get a "first-hand look," according to Reuters.
"Now I am coming from quite far away, mainly because ... I thought it would be very nice to hear the words of this pope close up and to see how the people are overwhelmed by him," Sabello told Reuters.
