Pope calls for end to violence against women in new year message

Celebrating mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Francis, 85, says violence against women is insult to God

Pope Francis used his new year's message to call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an insult to God.

Celebrating mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, on the day the Roman Catholic church marks both the solemnity of Holy Mary Mother of God as well as its annual World Day of Peace, Francis wove his New Year's homily around the themes of motherhood and women, saying it was they who kept the threads of life together.