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POPE-CHRISTMAS Dec-27-2005 (890 words) With photos. xxxi
Pope celebrates Christmas, remembers martyrs on feast of St. Stephen
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his first Christmas as pope, warning of the "spiritual barrenness" of modern times and asking people to open their hearts to Jesus.
The pope celebrated midnight Mass in a packed St. Peter's Basilica and delivered a Christmas Day blessing to the city of Rome and to the world -- "urbi et orbi."
On Dec. 26, the feast of St. Stephen, he paid tribute to ancient and modern martyrs.
After his Christmas blessing, broadcast to 68 countries, he gave multilingual greetings, saying in English: "May the birth of the Prince of Peace remind the world where its true happiness lies; and may your hearts be filled with hope and joy, for the Savior has been born for us."
He said "Merry Christmas" in 33 languages, fewer than the 60 or so languages typically used by Pope John Paul II in his later years. Gone were many of the Slavic and African idioms employed by the Polish pope.
Pope Benedict began the Christmas events by continuing another tradition of Pope John Paul. On Christmas Eve, he stood at his apartment window and lit a candle for peace as the Vatican's oversized manger scene was unveiled below in St. Peter's Square.
A few hours later, the pope processed into the basilica, brilliantly illuminated at midnight to reflect the joy of Christmas. The foot of the altar was decorated with a garland of pine boughs, berries, red roses and other flowers.
As the Gloria was sung, children from several continents brought more flowers and laid them around a small statue of the baby Jesus in front of the altar.
In his sermon, the pope said it was significant that the all-powerful God had "come to us as a defenseless child." He said the splendor of Jesus' birth still shines on every child, "even on those still unborn" -- a reference to the church's teaching against abortion.
The pope also focused on the figure of the shepherds who heard the angel's announcement of Christ's birth. They were simple souls, but watchful and ready, "waiting for a light which would show them the way," he said.
"That is what is important for God. He loves everyone, because everyone is his creature. But some persons have closed their hearts; there is no door by which his love can enter. They think that they do not need God, nor do they want him," the pope said.
Others realize they need God's goodness, even if they have no clear idea of what this means, he said.
"Into their expectant hearts God's light can enter, and with it, his peace," he said.
At noon on Christmas Day, the pope gave his blessing from the central balcony of the basilica facade -- the same place he had appeared shortly after his election as pope eight months earlier. About 40,000 people stood in the rain to listen, and his words were carried to millions more via live or delayed TV broadcast.
The pope asked people around the world to let Christ enter "their homes, their cities, their nations, everywhere on earth."
He said Christ asks people to examine the way they live, something that cannot be done only with the light of reason or through scientific advances.
"In the millennium just past, and especially in the last centuries, immense progress was made in the areas of technology and science. Today we can dispose of vast material resources," he said. "But the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart."
The pope said Christ's birth calls all people to build a world order based on justice and to strengthen the awareness that humanity forms a family. A united humanity, he said, will be able to face the wide array of modern problems, including terrorism, the "humiliating poverty" in which millions of people live, weapons proliferation, pandemics and environmental destruction.
He singled out some specific places around the globe, praying for the end of fratricidal conflicts in Africa and the humanitarian crisis in places like Darfur, in western Sudan, where he said refugees need protection of their most elemental rights. He asked that dangerous disputes be settled in Asia, specifically between the two Koreas.
In the Holy Land, Iraq and Lebanon, he said, there are signs of hope, but they "need to be confirmed by actions inspired by fairness and wisdom."
On Dec. 26, the pope prayed the Angelus from his apartment window and spoke about St. Stephen, the first martyr, to a big crowd in St. Peter's Square.
He said that recalling martyrdom the day after Christmas was an appropriate reminder that Jesus, once he became an adult, asked his disciples to follow him with total trust and fidelity. Many of the early Christians gave their lives for this faith, he said.
"After the first martyrs, others followed through the centuries right up to our own days. How can we fail to recognize that even in our time, in various parts of the world, professing the Christian faith requires the heroism of martyrs?" he said.
Even in places where there is no religious persecution, he said, "to live the Gospel coherently brings a high price to pay."
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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