The Pope has urged “hope and kindness” in a message recorded for Thought for the Day for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Pope Francis will also emphasise the importance of humility in the recording which will be broadcast on 28 December.
“A world full of hope and kindness is a more beautiful world. A society that looks to the future with confidence and treats people with respect and empathy is more humane,” he will say.
He will also quote British writer GK Chesterton, who the pontiff says invites us to “take the elements of life with gratitude and not for granted”.
The message – recorded in Italian and translated into English – marks the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year, which began on 24 December.
A jubilee is a Church tradition which takes place only once every 25 years in which Catholics re-establish their relationship with God. This jubilee is dedicated to the theme of hope and will involve special celebrations, including tens of millions of pilgrims travelling to Rome.
On Thursday, Pope Francis visited a prison in Rome where he opened a “Holy Door”, part of a prison chapel, which is one of a number of doors only opened during Jubilee years.
Pope Francis has appeared on Thought for the Day once before, in 2021, ahead of the COP26 climate summit.
He used that message to appeal for the world to take “an urgent change of direction” to preserve the planet for future generations.
His predecessor Pope Benedict XVI was the first to appear on Thought for the Day, broadcasting a pre-recorded message on Christmas Eve in 2010.
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