In the message delivered on the night of December 24, 2025, the patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, left a call for a more humane society, based on proximity, care and shared responsibility. For Rui Valério, Christmas should not be experienced as an abstract idea, but as a concrete invitation to transform human relationships. “Not to speak of hope and peace as distant ideas, but to open, in the concrete of our daily lives, paths of closeness, union and harmony”he stated.
Faced with a society marked by tensions, exclusions and discourses of distrust, particularly in relation to migrants, the Patriarch defended the need for a different view of others, especially those who are more fragile or invisible. “As a society, we are invited to look differently at those who are close to us and, above all, at those who are more fragile or seem invisible”, he stated, warning of the risks of a “cold logic that excludes, discards and fragments”.
By evoking the nativity scene as the central symbolic place of Christian celebration, Rui Valério highlighted the awareness of the unique value of each human being. “No one is a number, a product or a disposable resource. Each person is unique, bearer of a dignity that no circumstances can erase”he stated. And he added: “Regardless of the language you speak, the land you come from or the history you bring with you, each face deserves respect, recognition and the possibility of building a dignified life for yourself and your family.”
The Patriarch also presented Christmas as a “school of hope”, capable of revealing bridges where there seem to be only walls and opening paths where everything seems blocked. It is, he said, a “concrete” hope, which believes in the possibility of renewal even in the most arid contexts.
The message also included an explicit reference to people marked by war, violence and fear. For Rui Valério, peace is possible, but it is not born from strength: it comes from the transformation of hearts and openness to others. He left a simple and direct word to these people and families: “they are not alone”.
In conclusion, the Patriarch of Lisbon recalled that the Belém nativity scene remains a sign that “life can always begin again” and that “peace begins when we make space, in our hearts and in society, for each other”, leaving wishes for a Holy Christmas to everyone.