* Says change starts in hearts of individuals
* Francis singles out persecuted Christians
* Speech on seventh Christmas of his pontificate
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged the
world to let the light of Christmas pierce the "darkness in
human hearts" that leads to religious persecution, social
injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants.
In his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) Christmas
Day message, the 83-year-old pope called for peace in the Holy
Land, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Venezuela, Ukraine and
several African countries caught up in conflicts.
The common thread of his address to tens of thousands of
people in St. Peter's Square and millions watching or listening
around the world was that change starts in the hearts of
individuals.
"There is darkness in human hearts, yet the light of Christ
is greater still," Francis said, as he marked the seventh
Christmas of his pontificate.
"There is darkness in personal, family and social
relationships, but the light of Christ is greater. There is
darkness in economic, geopolitical and ecological conflicts, yet
greater still is the light of Christ," he said.
Francis singled out the persecution of Christians by
militant groups in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, asking
God to console those who suffer for their faith. On Dec. 1, at least 14 people were shot dead in an attack on
a church in eastern Burkina Faso, where an Islamist insurgency
has ignited ethnic and religious tensions. THE DARKNESS"
Francis, who has been scorned by populist politicians
because of his defence of refugees and migrants, dedicated a
section of his address to their plight.
"It is injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that
become cemeteries. It is injustice that forces them to endure
unspeakable forms of abuse, enslavement of every kind and
torture in inhumane detention camps," Francis said.
This month, Francis called for the closing of migrant
detention camps in Libya. "It is injustice that turns them away from places where they
might have hope for a dignified life, but instead find
themselves before walls of indifference," he said.
Francis said that while there were many huge problems in the
world, people did not have to look far to correct injustices.
They could make a difference in their own communities as a start
to healing all the "suffering members of our human family".
"May (God) soften our often stony and self-centred hearts,
and make them channels of his love. May he bring his smile,
through our poor faces, to all the children of the world: to
those who are abandoned and those who suffer violence," Francis
said.
To underscore his message, the two cardinals Francis chose
to join him on the basilica's central balcony were Renato
Martino, president emeritus of the Vatican's immigration office,
and Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner who distributes aid to
Rome's poor and homeless.
"Through our frail hands, may he clothe those who have
nothing to wear, give bread to the hungry and heal the sick," he
said, adding that through friendship, everyone could be close to
the elderly, the lonely, migrants and marginalized people.
"On this joyful Christmas Day, may he bring his tenderness
to all and brighten the darkness of this world," he said.