VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Christmas midnight Mass early today by sending out an appeal for children who are abused or are forced to live on the street or to serve as soldiers.
In the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict marked the birth of Jesus with a call to the faithful to help children who are denied the love of their parents or exploited.
“The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children,” he said.
Delivering his homily in Italian, Benedict recalled the plight of “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 also of the place named Bethlehem, of the land in which Jesus lived, and which he loved so deeply,” he said. “Let us pray that peace will be established there, that hatred and violence will cease. Let us pray for mutual understanding, that hearts will be opened, so that borders can be opened.”
Benedict is expected to visit the Holy Land in May for what would be the first papal trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the late Pope John Paul II traveled there in a 2000 pilgrimage.
As Benedict left the basilica through the main aisle, a person who had jumped the barriers got close to him but was quickly blocked by security.
Thousands of pilgrims, Romans and tourists packed the basilica for the midnight service.
