2023-12-24 20:23:00
Pope Francis used the Christmas service in St. Peter’s Basilica as a reminder for peace. He recalled the Christmas message “Peace on earth to people”. With a view to the war in the Middle East, Francis added: “Our hearts are this evening in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is still rejected by the doomed logic of war, by the noise of weapons.”
This year, Christmas is particularly influenced by the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine.
Our hearts are in Bethlehem tonight, where the Prince of Peace is still repulsed by the doomed logic of war, by the noise of weapons.
According to the Vatican, around 7,000 people took part in the service in St. Peter’s Basilica. In addition, the events in St. Peter’s Square in front of the church were watched by thousands of people on large screens.
Legend: View of the papal altar in the Basilica of Saint Peter in the center of the crossing of St. Peter’s Basilica under the main dome with the ciborium (altar structure) with the canopy. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
After mass on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will read his traditional Christmas message in the Vatican on Monday, Christmas Day, at 12 p.m. From the loggia above the portals of St. Peter’s Basilica, the head of the Roman Catholic Church bestows the blessing “Urbi et Orbi” on the city and the world. Tens of thousands of believers are expected at St. Peter’s Square.
War in the Holy Land
The city, where tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world usually crowd at Christmas, is deserted because of the war and the lockdown imposed by Israel. The large Christmas tree that usually stands in front of the Church of the Nativity during Advent is missing. The heads of the churches in Jerusalem had already decided in November that there should be no Christmas decorations in the Holy Land because of the war.
In view of the war in Gaza, the traditional Christmas procession of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem only took place on a small scale. It began at the Jaffa Gate in the historic Old City of Jerusalem to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Cardinal Pierbatista Pizzaballa, as the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, was only accompanied by a few Franciscans and a few believers on the short drive to the town, a few kilometers away.
In the historic city of Bethlehem, midnight mass is said in the Church of the Nativity. Under the altar is the grotto where, according to tradition, Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago.
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