| ||
Benedict XVI ushers in Christmas at the Vatican, just one day after embassy package bombs strike Rome. Last Modified: 25 Dec 2010 03:27 GMT | ||
Pope Benedict XVI has ushered in Christmas with an evening Mass at the Vatican amid heightened security, as Christians around the world began to mark the holiday. During the same service in 2008 and 2009, a mentally disturbed woman lunged at the pope as he proceeded down the aisle. Last year she managed to pull him to the ground. "Help us to recognise your face in others who need our assistance, in those who are suffering or forsaken, in all people, and help us to live together with you as brothers and sisters, so as to become one family, your family," he said. Around the world Elsewhere, thousands of people gathered to celebrate Christmas at Manger Square in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born. Tourists, pilgrims and clergy converged on Christianity's holiest city as boy scouts marching bands played outside the Church of the Nativity. Candles were lit inside the church, identified by Christian tradition as the site where Jesus was born in a stable two millennia ago. Latin Patriarch Fouad Tawal, the archbishop of Jerusalem and the Catholic Church's top clergyman in the Holy Land, conducted mass at midnight local time. Officials said the turnout shaped up to be the largest since 2000. Meanwhile in China, hundreds of people crammed a historic Beijing cathedral on Friday to observe a Christmas Eve Mass. And international troops in Afghanistan celebrated Christmas Eve in the capital, Kabul with intimate religious services, Christmas carols and a special meal. | ||
| ||
Source: Agencies |
blog archive
Saturday 25 December 2010
Pope leads Christmas Eve Mass
التسميات:
Aljazeera
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment