“Jesus, who came into the world as a child, believes in a world suitable for children,” Pope Francis said to youth of the Italian Catholic Action lay apostolate in a December 18 audience (Italian text). “Even today he is close to the children of every country and every people.”

“It is the style of God, which is described in three words: closeness, compassion and tenderness,” the Pope continued. “Let us also learn to make ourselves ‘neighbors,’ near to others: near to family, friends, peers, the needy.”