Ukrainian artist Yama Tarhonia has presented Pope Francis with a blue and yellow dove of peace made from a piece of stained glass from the Church of St Nicholas in Kyiv, which was damaged in a Russian attack on 20024.

Christmas revellers around the world donned red and white Santa hats, offered meals to the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday, as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

Francis delivered his Sunday Angelus from inside due to a cold and as a precaution ahead of a busy Christmas period.

The latest is a special gift as Christmas draws near: a vehicle converted into a small mobile hospital to care for the inhabitants of this country devastated by war. The person in charge of delivering the vehicle where the injured can be operated on will be the pope’s almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajweski.

Ukraine said Russia had attacked it with 60 drones overnight, of which 36 were downed, 23 were jammed by electronic warfare and one was still in the air.

The pope inaugurated the Catholic Church's historic 2025 Jubilee of "Hope" on Christmas Eve at the Vatican in traditional ceremonies before he addressed thousands of Catholic faithful.

I think of Gaza with great sorrow; so much cruelty, children hit by machine guns, schools and hospitals bombed,’ pontiff says - Anadolu Ajansı

Pope Francis called for a ceasefire on all war fronts in his Angelus prayer on Sunday, condemning the "cruelty" of bombing schools and hospitals in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. "Let the weapons fall silent and let the Christmas carols ring out!

Putting aggressors and victims on the same level is "ethically and morally wrong," said commenter Anton Gerashchenko in response to the pope's words.

Pope Francis is set to open the Holy Year of the Catholic Church in St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening. The 88-year-old pontiff in a solemn ceremony

“The president thanked the pope for his continued advocacy to alleviate global suffering, including his work to advance human rights and protect religious freedoms,” the statement read. “President Biden also graciously accepted His Holiness Pope Francis’ invitation to visit the Vatican next month.”