Christmas celebrants around the world wore red and white Santa hats, fed the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday as Pope Francis kicked off the global holiday with a somber mass at the Vatican.
At St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis urged Christians on Christmas Eve to think “not about wars, about machine-gunned children, about bombs on schools or hospitals,” as this year’s Christmas once again falls under the shadow of Israel’s war. It is happening. On Hamas and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
His comments came just days after he condemned the “brutality” of the Israeli attacks, which Israeli diplomats objected to.
Francis is due to deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World), at noon on Wednesday while observing the holiday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Has been muted.
For the second year in a row, Bethlehem has taken down its giant Christmas trees and elaborate decorations, which usually attract crowds of tourists, in favor of just a few festive lights.
“This year we limited our happiness,” Bethlehem Mayor Anton Salman told AFP.
Prayers, including the famous Midnight Mass of the Church of the Nativity, will still be held in the presence of the Latin Patriarch of the Catholic Church, but celebrations will be of a more strictly religious nature.
The patriarch, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told a small crowd on Tuesday that he had just returned from Gaza, where he “saw everything destroyed, poverty, disaster”.
“But I’ve also seen life – they don’t give up. So you shouldn’t give up either. Never.”
In the center of the Palestinian city, on Manger Square, a group of Scouts held a parade that broke the silence.
“Our children want to play and laugh,” read a sign one of them held, while his friends whistled and cheered.
Other banners said: “We want life, not death”, and “Stop the Gaza massacre now!”
Jerusalem resident Hisham Makhoul said spending Christmas in the holy city offered a chance to “escape” the Israel-Hamas war that has been raging in the Gaza Strip for more than 14 months.
Regarding the plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory, Makhoul said, “What we are going through is very difficult and we cannot forget about it completely.”
Gaza and Syria
About 1,100 Christians live in Gaza, which is separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory.
Hundreds of Gazan Christians gathered in a church to pray for an end to the war.
“This Christmas stinks of death and destruction,” said George al-Sayegh, who has been sheltering in place in the 12th-century Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza City for several weeks.
“There is no joy, no sense of celebration. We don’t even know who will survive until the next holidays.”
In a message to Christians around the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked them for supporting Israel’s fight against “evil forces.”
Elsewhere in the Middle East, hundreds of people took to the streets in Christian neighborhoods of Damascus to protest against the burning of a Christmas tree in the Syrian city, just two weeks after Islamist-led rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad from power.
“If we are not allowed to live according to Christianity in our country as we used to, then we no longer belong here,” said a protester who gave his name as Georges.
Santa Tracker
In Germany, Christmas was also a grim affair for many families after a deadly attack at a market prompted President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to issue a message of healing.
“Hate and violence should not be considered the last word,” he said.
In Buenos Aires, nearly three thousand people were fed at a Christmas solidarity dinner for the homeless, at a time when more than half of Argentina’s population is affected by poverty.
“To say that this is a special year because there is more and more poverty is sad, but it’s true,” said Mariana Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the Movement of Excluded Workers, one of the organizers.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere was joyful with floating balloons, music and clowns, as elsewhere on Christmas Eve families shared food and gifts.
In the United States, where the annual tradition of “tracking” Santa Claus has come into action, a U.S. Air Force general said there is no need to worry that recent mysterious drone sightings could affect deliveries. Is.
Gen. Gregory Guillot’s assurances came as the joint U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command reported that Santa and his reindeer were making stops across Asia, including Japan and North Korea.
“Of course, we’re concerned about drones and anything in the air,” NORAD Commander Guillot told Fox News. “But I don’t think Santa will have any trouble with drones this year.”
And in Paris, worshipers gathered at Notre Dame Cathedral for the first Christmas Mass since reopening following a devastating fire in 2019.
“We came here early to attend the 4:00 p.m. mass and get a good spot,” said Julien Violle, a 40-year-old engineer who traveled to Paris from Switzerland with his two children. “It’s a wonderful monument.” “
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
