Pope Francis implores people to spend less, give to Ukraine during Christmas 

Pope Francis on Wednesday,December 14th, called on people all over the world  to spend less on Christmas presents and celebrations, and donate the money saved to those in war-ravaged Ukraine.

“It is nice to celebrate Christmas. But let’s lower the level of Christmas spending a bit,” Francis said in his weekly general audience at the Vatican.

“Let’s have a more humble Christmas, with more humble gifts. Let’s send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who need it,” he implored christians.

The war has been on for almost 10 months and the hardship from the fighting has compounded and worsened as winter sets in and Russia pounds Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Missiles have continued to pour into Ukraine and the effects have been crippling-resulting in the periodic loss of electricity, heating, water and phone service across various parts of Ukraine.

The Ukrainians “are suffering so much. They are hungry, cold. So many people are dying because there are no doctors or nurses,” the pope said.

On Tuesday,December 13th, Ukraine’s Western allies pledged an additional one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in emergency winter aid to help the country withstand Russia’s continuous onslaught.