Europe News

Pope leads Christmas celebrations with mass at St Peter's

By Peter Mayer Dec 24, 2011, 21:31 GMT

Pope Benedict XVI leads the midnight Christmas Mass in Saint Peter\'s Basilica at the Vatican, late 24 December 2011. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday led the Vatican's Christmas festivities by celebrating the traditional midnight mass in St Peter's Basilica.

Thousands of people flocked there for the ceremony, while many more followed the proceedings on giant video screens in St Peter's Square, on a wet and chilly winter's night.

Benedict, wearing gold-embroidered robes and his bishop's mitre, made his way up the basilica's nave towards the altar on a platform on wheels - a device used by his predecessor, the late John Paul II, during his long battle with Parkinson's disease.

As in recent years, the mass began shortly after 10 pm (2100 GMT). The Vatican said the earlier slot aims to give Benedict a few extra hours of sleep before his Christmas Day duties.

In his mass homily the 84-year-old pontiff was expected to emphasize how the birth of Christ in Bethlehem should be a source of joy and hope for a world marred by poverty and violence.

Earlier, the pontiff lit a 'peace' candle from the window of his study overlooking St Peter's Square, where a ceremony was held to unveil a Nativity scene that recreates the scene of Jesus' birth.

The story narrates how Jesus' mother Mary and her husband Joseph, unable to find lodging, sought a manger for shelter.

The Nativity scene stands next to the Vatican's Christmas tree - this year a 30.5-metre spruce from Ukraine's south-western Zakarpattia region.

Benedict has encouraged Catholics to display their own Nativity scenes and Christmas trees, both 'spiritual' symbols representing Christ's appearance on Earth, according to the German-born pontiff.

On Sunday, Benedict was scheduled to deliver his Christmas Day blessings and traditional Urbi et Orbi message 'to the city and to the world.'