Christians around the world celebrated Christmas yesterday with prayers for peace overshadowed by fears of violence, as pilgrims returned in droves to their savior's birthplace.
Thousands of pilgrims descended on Bethlehem as the rain-drenched little town enjoyed its busiest Christmas of the new millennium.
In his first Christmas message as pontiff Pope Benedict XVI prayed for those who work for peace "and the prevention of fratricidal conflicts" in Africa, making special mention of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
In the Holy Land of the Middle East, Iraq and Lebanon, he welcomed "signs of hope" but said they needed to be confirmed "by actions inspired by fairness and wisdom."
He issued a spiritual wake-up call, telling pilgrims in Rome in his traditional Christmas Day message they risked "spiritual barrenness" if they became too involved in modern-day intellectual and technical achievements.
The pope told pilgrims in a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square that "men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart."
"Wake up, O men and women of the third millennium," he said.
In Bethlehem the governor Salah Tamari complained the town had been transformed into a "big prison" by the massive concrete barrier between Israel and the West Bank aimed at preventing terror attacks on Israelis.
In the battle-scarred Iraqi capital, Baghdad, minority Christians celebrated the midnight mass several hours before dusk because of a night curfew and the danger of being out late at night.
Christians account for about three percent of Iraq's population, but many have left the country in recent years, fearing the growth of Islamic militancy.
US troops enjoyed the rare experience of being waited upon by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who donned a chef's hat to serve a Christmas dinner at a base in the northern city of Mosul.
RSS