Pope Francis did not spare words is denouncing groups and incidents that have resulted in brutal conflict, hatred and violence in 2014. He specifically condemned the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), child abuse, hostage-taking in Nigeria and the Ebola virus in his Christmas Eve Mass on Wednesday night.

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He prayed for God to look upon the people in Iraq and Syria who have been suffering due to the ongoing conflict in the area, particularly those from ethnic and religious groups that are undergoing brutal prosecution, MSNBC reports.

The pontiff prayed for peace in Nigeria where he noted that until now there is continuous bloodshed and deprivation of possession because of the hostage-taking of 300 schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram, an Islamist military group, from their school dorms.

He lamented that, "Truly there are so many tears this Christmas," following the massacre of Pakistani school children, deaths due to the Ebola virus and babies who have perished in bombing incidents, especially in the Holy Land.

Equally wrong is the abortion of fetuses because by killing these infants still in the wombs of their mothers, the infants are "deprived of that generous love of their parents" while they are eventually buried "in the egoism of a culture that does not love life," the leader of the Roman Catholic Church said.

His prayer for the many tears shed this Christmas is that "May Christmas bring them hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons, exiles and refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and from the whole world," quotes Time.

On Tuesday, Pope Francis also made a satellite call to a refugee camp in Iraq and told the displaced people that he is praying for them. He told the refugees in Erbil that they are very close to his heart. Most of them are victims of the ethnic cleansing by the ISIS.

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