Mideast Unrest Casts Pall Over Christmas In Bethlehem
Jerusalem's Latin patriarch will lead a procession to Bethlehem and celebrate midnight mass in the holy city attended by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and other dignitaries.
Via AFP:
Pope Francis held his first Christmas Eve mass in the Vatican on Tuesday by highlighting the role played by humble shepherds in the Nativity as thousands flocked to the historic site of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem.
At the service in St Peter's Basilica, the 77-year-old leader of the world's Catholics said that local shepherds were the first to witness the holy birth "because they were among the last, the outcast".
The Argentine pope, who was elected this year after his predecessor Benedict XVI's momentous resignation, also called on Catholic believers to open their hearts and to struggl...