In a Christmas shadowed by violence and the threat of conflict around the world, Pope John Paul II expressed "great apprehension" Saturday over the situation in Iraq but optimism at the outlook in the Middle East. Speaking from a rain-slicked St. Peter's Square, the 84-year-old pontiff called for an end to "the spread of violence in its many forms, the source of untold suffering."
He added: "With great apprehension I follow the situation in Iraq," where violence and chaos are mounting in the leadup to the first elections since the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a pre-Christmas visit to troops admitted the situation is difficult following the death of 22 people in the bombing of a US mess hall on Tuesday.
However, the pope said he was looking with "anxious concern, but also invincible confidence," at the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
US President George W. Bush, meanwhile, expressed gratitude in his weekly radio address to Americans to the thousands of US troops battling in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"In Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, these skilled and courageous Americans are fighting the enemies of freedom and protecting our country from danger," Bush said.
"By bringing liberty to the oppressed, our troops are helping to win the war on terror, and they are defending the freedom and security of us all," he said.
Bush acknowledged that "the times we live in have brought many challenges to our country," but he added that Christmas should offer people "special comfort and confidence."
In a special message to British troops in Iraq and elsewhere, Queen Elizabeth II expressed pride in "the way that you have risen to the challenges with typical professionalism."
In Bethlehem, the West Bank town revered as the humble birthplace of Jesus Christ, a top Palestinian leader was able to attend the traditional midnight mass for the first time in four years.
Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem told a melting pot congregation of Christians and Muslims - including PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas, who is tipped to replace the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat - that it was time to bring all walls tumbling down, including Israel's security barrier.
"We pray that all walls fall down, those around Bethlehem and the other Palestinian towns, and the walls of hatred in our hearts," he said.
From the Vatican, the pope joined in that prayer as he celebrated midnight mass in St. Peter's Basilica, beseeching that "the Holy Land will know times of prosperity and peaceful coexistence amid the reciprocal respect of its peoples," and that it would become "a secure and hospitable land for pilgrims and for those seeking truth."
In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, some 180,000 police officers were deployed after warnings that militants were again planning to strike there over the Christmas holiday. Last year, a string of attacks on churches killed 19 people on Christmas Eve.
Thousands attended mass at Jakarta's cathedral, where Cardinal Julius Darmaatmaja railed against the destruction of the environment and the impunity of rampant corruption. Human dignity, he said, was being "soiled by acts of violence and discrimination."
In Pakistan, another major Muslim country, Christians attended services at heavily guarded churches, and President Pervez Musharraf, in a Christmas Day message, spoke of the urgent need to remove "distrust and misunderstanding among the followers of different religions."
In Spain, King Juan Carlos in his message to the nation paid tribute to the 191 people killed and 1,900 injured in terrorist attacks on March 11.
Christians in Infanta in the Philippines, a town devastated by storms and mudslides last month, put on their best clothes to attend midnight mass, but wore rubber boots to pick their way through streets still thick with mud.
"What is important for us is to lift the spirit of the people," said Infanta's Catholic bishop, Rolando Tirona.
Although 1,800 people were left dead or missing by the storms, Tirona said the faith of his flock remained rock solid. "They are responding beautifully. They come to the masses with a smile on their faces," he said.
In China, where Christmas is becoming increasingly popular as a shopping festival and a reminder of Western modernity, people crowded into the government-approved churches - churches that are not recognised by the Vatican, which says millions of Christians are living underground for fear of persecution.
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