Zürcher Nachrichten - Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war

EUR -
AED 3.829636
AFN 73.124732
ALL 98.67132
AMD 416.19609
ANG 1.876087
AOA 950.891327
ARS 1069.345538
AUD 1.669845
AWG 1.876758
AZN 1.770715
BAM 1.958605
BBD 2.10181
BDT 124.398167
BGN 1.960374
BHD 0.392863
BIF 3078.208714
BMD 1.042643
BND 1.414526
BOB 7.193302
BRL 6.648516
BSD 1.040991
BTN 88.60991
BWP 14.457707
BYN 3.406679
BYR 20435.808856
BZD 2.0947
CAD 1.495203
CDF 2992.386179
CHF 0.922649
CLF 0.037382
CLP 1031.476921
CNY 7.610041
CNH 7.617776
COP 4580.707408
CRC 528.557017
CUC 1.042643
CUP 27.630048
CVE 110.423152
CZK 25.205537
DJF 185.375501
DKK 7.478911
DOP 63.410819
DZD 140.801661
EGP 52.92566
ERN 15.63965
ETB 132.542832
FJD 2.417525
FKP 0.825755
GBP 0.816351
GEL 2.930018
GGP 0.825755
GHS 15.301916
GIP 0.825755
GMD 75.070186
GNF 8996.885643
GTQ 8.018484
GYD 217.791929
HKD 8.098935
HNL 26.448881
HRK 7.478782
HTG 136.114948
HUF 412.147024
IDR 16871.115647
ILS 3.805893
IMP 0.825755
INR 89.039628
IQD 1363.65307
IRR 43882.250586
ISK 145.500487
JEP 0.825755
JMD 162.192297
JOD 0.739546
JPY 164.034903
KES 134.54284
KGS 90.71006
KHR 4183.992455
KMF 486.002152
KPW 938.378395
KRW 1518.722356
KWD 0.321322
KYD 0.867543
KZT 539.282378
LAK 22765.605669
LBP 93219.612277
LKR 306.799408
LRD 189.461353
LSL 19.356323
LTL 3.078655
LVL 0.630685
LYD 5.110319
MAD 10.497735
MDL 19.206508
MGA 4910.032314
MKD 61.618252
MMK 3386.464796
MNT 3542.901828
MOP 8.327727
MRU 41.555517
MUR 49.077589
MVR 16.043304
MWK 1805.085304
MXN 21.04758
MYR 4.678368
MZN 66.628796
NAD 19.356323
NGN 1606.880003
NIO 38.304862
NOK 11.83908
NPR 141.776056
NZD 1.846972
OMR 0.400904
PAB 1.040991
PEN 3.876352
PGK 4.225051
PHP 61.161205
PKR 289.808373
PLN 4.26867
PYG 8118.627773
QAR 3.786022
RON 4.988317
RSD 117.316157
RUB 104.099332
RWF 1452.179861
SAR 3.908442
SBD 8.741058
SCR 14.86499
SDG 627.15075
SEK 11.552884
SGD 1.408089
SHP 0.825755
SLE 23.773767
SLL 21863.712025
SOS 594.952111
SRD 36.553015
STD 21580.611407
SVC 9.109046
SYP 2619.672847
SZL 19.364735
THB 35.595791
TJS 11.388311
TMT 3.659678
TND 3.319254
TOP 2.441975
TRY 36.689711
TTD 7.074132
TWD 34.104442
TZS 2523.805691
UAH 43.648315
UGX 3810.457466
USD 1.042643
UYU 46.336365
UZS 13439.248145
VES 53.775216
VND 26514.419347
VUV 123.784702
WST 2.880602
XAF 656.897831
XAG 0.035236
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.817795
XDR 0.798143
XOF 656.897831
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.051846
ZAR 19.454087
ZMK 9385.039032
ZMW 28.809262
ZWL 335.73072
  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war / Photo: Tiziana FABI - AFP

Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war

Christmas revellers around the world donned red and white Santa hats, offered meals to the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday, as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

Text size:

At Saint Peter's Basilica, Francis used his Christmas Eve mass to urge Christians to think "of the wars, of the machine-gunned children, of the bombs on schools or hospitals" as this year's Christmas once again takes place under the shadow of Israel's war on Hamas and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

His remarks come just days after he denounced the "cruelty" of Israeli strikes, which prompted objections from Israeli diplomats.

Francis is due to deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world), at midday on Wednesday, while in the biblical birthplace of Jesus, the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, observations of the holiday have been muted.

For the second year in a row, Bethlehem has done away with its giant Christmas tree and the elaborate decorations that normally draw throngs of tourists, settling for just a few festive lights.

"This year we limited our joy," Bethlehem mayor Anton Salman told AFP.

Prayers, including at the Church of the Nativity's famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church's Latin patriarch, but the festivities 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 also saw life -- they don't give up. So you should not give up either. Never."

At Manger Square, in the heart of the Palestinian city, a group of scouts held a parade that broke the silence.

"Our children want to play and laugh," read a sign carried by one of them, as his friends whistled and cheered.

Other banners said: "We want life, not death", and "Stop the Gaza genocide now!"

Jerusalem resident Hisham Makhoul said spending Christmas in the holy city offered an "escape" from the Israel-Hamas war, which has raged for more than 14 months in the Gaza Strip.

"What we're going through is very difficult and we can't completely forget about it," said Makhoul of the plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory.

- 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 at a church to pray for an end to the war.

"This Christmas carries the stench of death and destruction," said George al-Sayegh, who for weeks has sought refuge in the 12th-century Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City.

"There is no joy, no festive spirit. We don't even know who will survive until the next holiday."

In a message to Christians all over the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked them for supporting Israel's fight against the "forces of evil".

Elsewhere in the Middle East, hundreds of people took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus to protest the burning of a Christmas tree in a Syrian town, just over two weeks after Islamist-led rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

"If we're not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," said a demonstrator 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, prompting President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to issue a message of healing.

"Hatred and violence must not have the final word," he said.

In Buenos Aires, a Christmas solidarity dinner for the homeless fed around three thousand people at a time when more than half of Argentina's population is affected by poverty.

"To say that it is a special year because there is more and more poverty is sad, but it is true," Mariana Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Movement of Excluded Workers, one of the organisers, said.

Still, the atmosphere was joyful with floating balloons, music and clowns, as elsewhere on Christmas Eve families shared meals and gifts.

In the United States, where the annual tradition of "tracking" Santa Claus swung into action, a US Air Force general said there was no need to worry that recent mystery drone sightings might affect deliveries.

General Gregory Guillot's reassurances came as the joint US-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 are concerned about drones and anything else in the air," NORAD commander Guillot told Fox News. "But I don't foresee any difficulty at all with drones for Santa this year."

And in Paris, worshippers gathered at the Notre Dame cathedral for the first Christmas mass since its reopening following a devastating fire in 2019.

"We got here early to attend 4:00 pm mass, and to get a good spot. It's a superb monument," said Julien Violle, a 40-year-old engineer who travelled to Paris from Switzerland along with his two children.

burs/lb/tym

P.E.Steiner--NZN