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Pope Francis leads a holy mass in St
Peter's Basilica. Photograph: Giuseppe Lami/Ansa/Zuma Press/Rex/Shutterstock |
Pope Francis has used his new year’s
message to call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an insult
to God, Guardian reports.
Celebrating mass in St Peter’s Basilica
in the Vatican, on the day the Roman Catholic church marks its annual World Day
of Peace, Francis wove his new year’s homily around the themes of motherhood
and women, saying it was they who kept the threads of life together, the report
stated further, adding that he used the message to make one of his strongest
pleas yet for an end to violence against them.
“And since mothers bestow life, and
women keep the world [together], let us all make greater efforts to promote
mothers and to protect women,” he said.