VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI reappeared in public Friday urging tolerance for migrants in his Christmas message, hours after a woman knocked him to the floor during evening mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
The 82-year-old appeared unshaken as he addressed tens of thousands in St Peter’s Square and millions around the world, urging “acceptance and welcome for those forced from their homes by hunger, intolerance or climate change.
The pontiff was dragged to the ground by a 25-year-old woman who vaulted security barriers and grabbed him as he made his way to the altar for Christmas Eve mass.
Susanna Maiolo had tried to approach the pope on the same occasion last year but was stopped by security guards, according to Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.
He told AFP the woman was “apparently unbalanced and had been admitted to hospital for “necessary treatment .
In his Christmas Eve homily, the German-born pontiff spoke out against selfishness, as Christians across the world celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Conflict and lack of reconciliation in the world stem from the fact that we are locked into our own interests and opinions, into our own little private world, said the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.
In Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims celebrated Christmas in what is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, with festivities on a scale unseen since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2001.
At midnight mass, the senior-most Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land called on the faithful to pray for peace in the Middle East.
“Its inhabitants are brothers who see each other as enemies, said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal. “This land will deserve to be called holy when she breathes freedom, justice, love, reconciliation, peace and security.
Live rock music mingled with traditional carols in Manger Square as thousands of pilgrims and Palestinians joined the festivities, providing some respite for a town living in the shadow of a huge Israeli-built wall.
“This is the place where God gave us his son, so it is very special for me to be here, for me and my whole community, said Juan Cruz, 27, from Mexico.
Christmas celebrations in Iraq were marred by a bloody string of attacks that killed 27 people Thursday, although Christians were not directly targeted.
A senior Iraqi priest in his Christmas sermon urged Christians not to be intimidated by a recent rise in attacks against the minority community recent months but warned they should not linger near churches.
We must be brave, take fear from our hearts, and work and go on as before, said Bishop Shlemon Warduni, the second-most-senior Chaldean bishop in Iraq.
In the United States, at least 19 people were killed as a huge storm system swirled above two-thirds of the nation, with blizzards and freezing rain forcing scores of churches to cancel Christmas services.
US President Barack Obama left the chill behind, kicking off a family holiday in his native Hawaii cheered by the Senate s adoption of his health care reforms.
Snow, ice and stormy weather also piled more misery on Christmas holiday travelers across Europe, disrupting road, rail and air travel.
In the Philippines, thousands displaced by an erupting volcano prepared for a White Christmas of a different kind as Mount Mayon spewed snow-like ash and politicians bearing gifts trooped to crowded evacuation centers.
In Liberia, Africa s first woman president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, spent Christmas in a notorious former prison camp where political prisoners were tortured under a bloody 1980s dictatorship.
Venezuela s firebrand President Hugo Chavez meanwhile told his people to end the gift-giving insanity of Christmas and instead read children stories about independence hero Simon Bolivar.
US-based Cubans were able to fete Christmas with loved ones in their native land, following the lifting of US travel curbs, such as Adrian, a 17-year-old from Florida who was seeing his Cuban grandfather for the first time.
And Indian Kashmir s tiny Christian community prayed for peace in the revolt-hit region as hundreds of Muslims joined them in festivities in the ski resort of Gulmarg.
Everyone prayed for the return of peace to our beautiful region, said Kashmir s tourism minister Rigzin Jora after the Christmas Eve mass.
