Pope pleads for world's children
In Montreal: A boy with a Santa stocking hat skis along a street in the Canadian city. ( GRAHAM HUGHES/THE CANADIAN PRESS )
In Gaza City: A Palestinian Christian girl attends prayers with her family at Gaza Strip's Holy Family Catholic Church. ( KHALIL HAMRA/AP )
In Beijing: Members of a choir attend Christmas Eve Mass in the state-approved Xuanwumen Catholic Church. ( WU HONG/EPA )
In Vatican City: Pope Francis kisses a statue of the baby Jesus as he celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. ( ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/AP )
Christians around the world marked Christmas Eve on Saturday in ways including prayer and song.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis urged Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus by thinking about the plight of today's children, including those who must escape bombs. Francis celebrated a somber Mass in a packed St. Peter's Basilica, processing to the altar behind cardinals draped in golden vestments as the Sistine Chapel choir sang “Gloria” and the church bells rang out across Rome.
Meanwhile, in the biblical town of Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the world gathered to celebrate in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
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