Vatican
Bidding 2017 farewell, Pope Francis has decried wars, injustices and environmental decay which he says have “ruined” the year.
Francis on Sunday presided at a New Year’s Eve prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica, a traditional occasion to say thanks in each year’s last hours.
He says God gave to us a 2017 “whole and sound,” but that “we humans in many ways ruined and hurt it with works of death, lies and injustices.”
But, he added, “gratitude prevails” thanks to those “co-operating silently for the common good.”
In keeping with past practice, the pope on New Year’s Day will celebrate Mass dedicated to the theme of world peace.