Pope Benedict calls for an end to bloodshed around the world

Mtoday news / Mail

Vatican, Dec 25: Pope Benedict calls for an end to bloodshed around the world , an appeal for peace that was challenged by deadly attacks on two Nigerian churches.

He made the plea the morning after Christmas celebrations got underway with a midnight mass service at a packed St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

The Pontiff used his Christmas ceremonies to condemn the ’superficial glitter’ that now imbues the holiday.

He urged the faithful to discover its true meaning and remember the ’child in the stable’ instead of being consumed by the commercial side of Christmas.

Worship: Thousands of worshippers converged outside the Vatican to hear Pope Benedict XVI deliver his traditional Christmas ’Urbi et Orbi’ blessing

Call for peace: Pope Benedict XVI delivers the ’Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s basilica at the Vatican

Today Benedict delivered his ’Urbi et Orbi’ speech (Latin for ’to the city and to the world’) from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica overlooking a sun-drenched piazza below, before thousands of jubilant tourists and pilgrims, and hundreds of colourful Swiss Guards and Italian military bands.

The 84-year-old pope, fresh off a late-night Christmas Eve Mass, said he prayed that the birth of Jesus, which Christmas celebrates, would send a message to all who need to be saved from hardships.

He cited refugees from the Horn of Africa and flood victims in Thailand, among others, and called for greater political dialogue in Myanmar, and stability in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa’s Great Lakes region.

 

Message: Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. He urged the faithful to discover its true meaning and remember the ’child in the stable’ instead of being consumed by the commercial side of Christmas

He said he prayed that God would help the Israelis and the Palestinians resume talks.

’May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed,’ he said.

The pope didn’t mention the attacks on churches in Nigeria. Early today, an explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria’s capital Abuja, killing at least 10 people. A second explosion struck near a church in Nigeria’s restive central city of Jos.The traditional service began with a papal procession through the church shortly after 10pm local time.

Wearing cream and gold colored vestments, Pope Benedict proceeded into St. Peter’s Basilica last night standing on a moving platform - a new concession to spare the 84-year-old pontiff the fatigue of having to walk up and down the long centre aisle.

In his sermon, Benedict lamented that Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration that obscures the simplicity of the message of Christ’s birth.

’Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light,’ he said.

It was the second time in as many days that Pope Benedict has pointed to the need to rediscover faith to confront the problems facing the world today.

In his end-of-year meeting with Vatican officials on Thursday, he said Europe’s financial crisis was largely ’based on the ethical crisis looming over the Old Continent’.