Happy Christmas and Every Blessing for 2009
Pope Benedict greets crowds gathered in St Peter's Square on Christmas Day
Pope Benedict XVI offers Christmas greetings
An extract from the Homily of The Holy Father at Midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve:
"In every child we see something of the Child of Bethlehem. Every child asks for our love. This night, then, let us think especially of those children who are denied the love of their parents. Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace. Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul. The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman."
The full text of the Pope's Homily may be read here
