Top Roman Catholic in Holy Land prays for peace
The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land delivered Christmas wishes on Thursday for peace in the Middle East -- and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers.
There was more Christmas gloom than cheer elsewhere, too.
Thousands of families in the central Philippines were spending Christmas eve in shelters while the lava-spilling Mayon volcano threatened their homes. And in Pakistan, no decorations brightened the tent camp sheltering Christians left homeless by the worst violence against minorities in the country this year.
Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal began Christmas celebrations with an annual procession from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace.
"The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming. We want peace," Twal said after he passed into Bethlehem.
"We don't have a shortage of food, we don't need aid," he added. "All we want is peace, and that is the wish that still has not been answered."
Twal and his convoy of dozens of vehicles entered the Palestinian territory through a massive steel gate in Israel's heavily guarded West Bank separation barrier, escorted by Israeli soldiers and police in jeeps.
The barrier and the heavy Israeli security presence was a potent reminder of the fractions and hostilities that have made peace impossible.
