Monday, December 25, 2006

In Midnight Mass, pope urges global goodwill

MSNBC.com
Bloodshed, security concerns continue around world on Christmas Eve


Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI waves to children as he celebrates midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican early Monday.
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AP
Updated: 9:51 p.m. ET Dec 24, 2006

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Christmas Midnight Mass in the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica early Monday with an appeal for abused children around the world, including child soldiers, beggars and others deprived of sustenance and love.

“The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze toward all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn,” Benedict said in his homily, referring to the church’s stand against abortion.

In celebrating Jesus’ birth, he said people should direct their thoughts toward children forced to serve “as soldiers in a violent world, toward children who have to beg, toward children who suffer deprivation and hunger, toward children who are unloved.
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