Latin Patriarch ushers Christmas in Jesus’ birthplace

December 27, 2013 - The Holy Land’s top Roman Catholic cleric, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem, celebrated Christmas Midnight Mass in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, holding out the hope and peace of the Babe of Bethlehem despite conflicts and disasters around the world. “The world is living through a long night of wars, destruction, fear, hate, racism and, at the present time, cold and snow,” the Patriarch said in his homily. He recalled the civil wars in Africa, the typhoon in the Philippines, the difficult situation in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. An in the Holy Land itself he remembered the “prisoners and their families who hope for their release, the poor who have lost their land and their homes demolished, families waiting to be reunited, those out of work and all who suffer from the economic crisis.” But, he said, “we must never give in to despair, because Jesus, our Saviour has told us that peace is possible, that the flame of hope remains alive, that justice and reconciliation will come.” This year's turnout has been the largest in years in Bethlehem and the celebrations have been marked by careful optimism amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.