At the close of the General Audience, Pope Francis urged to the faithful to restore their ties with their Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are enduring terrible hardship, to provide them with humanitarian aid, and to keep them in their prayers throughout the season of Advent and Christmas.

All people, Pope Francis has said, must "renew our closeness to the devastated Ukrainian people" and "persevere in prayer for these our brothers and sisters who are suffering so much." At the end of the Wednesday General Audience, before he blessed the crowd, Pope Francis said these remarks.

Pope Francis reminded the world of the tremendous hardships the Ukrainian people are facing, and he urged everyone to keep them in their prayers and thoughts as the Christmas season approaches and their spiritual preparations are ramped up.

He proposed having "a more humble Christmas" and exchanging smaller gifts in order to contribute the money we've saved to the Ukrainian people, who are in dire need of aid owing to the terrible cold, disease, lack of physicians and medical facilities, and hunger.

Let us not overlook... Christmas, of course. Yes, I am at rest with the Lord. But always thinking of the Ukrainian people. And let us show them that we care by giving them genuine aid.

When speaking to the Polish pilgrims present during the General Audience, the Holy Father praised Poland for its participation in "Family to Family," a local Caritas initiative that provides aid to victims of war and natural disasters.

He urged the crowd to keep on giving to the needy, since this year's collection will also benefit Ukrainian families.