Pope Leo calls for kindness to strangers and the poor in Christmas message | Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo told Christians that the Christmas story should remind them of their duty to help the poor and strangers.

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

Leo, who dealt with immigrants and poverty as central themes in his early pontificate, said the birth of Jesus showed God’s presence in every person as he ushered the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics into Christmas with a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

During the ceremony attended by approximately 6,000 people inside the basilica, the pope said, “If there is no place for man on earth, there is no place for God. To reject one means to reject the other.”

Leo, the first US-born pope, is celebrating his first Christmas after being chosen by world cardinals in May to succeed the late Pope Francis. The pope criticized Donald Trump’s divisive crackdown on immigrants, Pope Benedict XVI. He quoted a quote from Benedict who complained that the world did not care about children, the poor or strangers.

“While a distorted economy leads us to treat people as mere commodities, God becomes like us and reveals the infinite dignity of every human being,” Leo said. “If there is room for man, there is room for God. Even a barn can be holier than a temple.”

Outside the basilica, about 5,000 people watched the ceremony on screens in St. Peter’s Square, wearing umbrellas and ponchos in heavy rain in Rome.

Leo, 70, came out to greet them before the service began. “I admire, respect and thank you for your courage and your willingness to be here tonight, even in this weather.”

On Thursday the pope will celebrate a Christmas Day mass and offer a twice-annual ceremony Urbi and Orbi message and blessing (to the city and the world).