Pope Francis celebrated a low-key Christmas Eve Mass made sombre by the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and said people should feel obliged to help the needy because Jesus himself was born a poor outcast.

The Mass was held in a rear section of St. Peter's Basilica with fewer than 100 participants and only small number of cardinals and bishops. It is usually held in the main section of the basilica and attended by up to 10,000 people, including the diplomatic corps representing nearly 200 countries.