The Trumps and Pope Francis both pray for peace in Christmas messages
From Florida on Monday, President Trump tweeted a prerecorded Christmas video message from the White House in which he said he and first lady Melania Trump "are delighted to wish America and the entire world a very merry Christmas." Trump talked about "the miracle of Christmas" for Christians, which he highlighted with a passage from Isaiah, and Melania Trump said that "this Christmas season we celebrate our blessings as Americans and we pray for peace all over the world."
In his Christmas message, Pope Francis also prayed for peace. "Pope Francis legendarily has no off switch, and he certainly didn't take Christmas Day 2017 off," Vatican correspondent John Allen Jr. said on CNN, "continuing to press his campaign for peace in a variety of global hotspots," starting with Jerusalem. The pope reiterated the Vatican's decades-old support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, thrown into further doubt by Trump's controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which was overwhelming condemned by the United Nations as well as Christians across the Middle East. You can watch Allen's dispatch from Rome below. Peter Weber
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