Seven months after the start of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV is preparing to celebrate the rites of the Christmas season for the first time, with a marked emphasis on peace, one of the central axes of his magisterium since his election.
According to Vatican News, the Pontiff has wanted to emphasize this message in the official greeting prepared by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, in which he recalls that “the Lord’s Christmas is the Christmas of peace.” The phrase is taken from Sermon 26 of Saint Leo the Great, the first Pope to bear that name, and the image accompanying the message reproduces a mosaic by the Italian artist Alberto Salietti, made in 1955 for the papal apartment.
On December 23, responding to journalists’ questions at the gates of Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV again asked men of good will “at least on the feast of the Savior’s birth, a day of peace,” resuming the expression of a “disarmed and disarming” peace that he had already pronounced from the Loggia of the Blessings after his election.
The Christmas Rites
The liturgical agenda begins on the night of December 24, when at 22:00 the Pope will preside over the Mass of the Christmas Night in St. Peter’s Basilica. Ten children, from South Korea, India, Mozambique, Paraguay, Poland, and Ukraine, will accompany the Pontiff in the procession to the Vatican Nativity scene.
On Christmas Day, December 25, Leo XIV will celebrate the Day Mass at 10:00 in St. Peter’s, followed at 12:00 by the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the central Loggia of the basilica.
On December 26, feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, the Pope will pray the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, a prayer that he will also preside over on Sunday the 28th. The year will close on Wednesday, December 31, with the general audience and, in the afternoon, with the celebration of First Vespers and the traditional Te Deum of thanksgiving.
January Celebrations
On January 1, 2026, solemnity of Saint Mary Mother of God, the Pope will preside over the Mass for the 59th World Day of Peace. On this occasion, he has published a message titled “Peace be with you all. Towards a disarmed and disarming peace,” in which he denounces the growing arms race, pointing out a 9.4% increase in global military spending in 2024.
The calendar will continue with the Angelus prayer on January 4, the Mass of the Lord’s Epiphany on the 6th—with the closing of the Holy Door and the closing of the 2025 Jubilee dedicated to hope—and, finally, the Mass of the Lord’s Baptism on Sunday, January 11, which the Pope will celebrate in the Sistine Chapel administering the sacrament to several children.
The Return of the Christmas Day Mass
Among the novelties of this pontificate, Leo XIV has recovered the celebration of the Christmas Day Mass, a liturgy that had not been presided over by his immediate predecessors. The last time a Pope celebrated this Mass was Saint John Paul II, on December 25, 1994.
Vatican media will provide coverage of the celebrations with translation into Italian Sign Language (LIS) and subtitling for people with hearing disabilities. In addition, through the YouTube channel of Vatican News, the Christmas Eve Mass will be broadcast with translation in Italian sign language, Spanish sign language, and, exceptionally, also French sign language.