While record crowds flocked to Bethlehem, hundreds also defied al Qaeda threats to pack Our Lady of Salvation cathedral in Baghdad for Christmas mass.
Although there were no immediate reports of Christians being targeted in the Middle East, bombings in other parts of the world highlighted the threats facing Christians.
A series of Christmas Eve church attacks and explosions left at least 38 people dead in two Nigerian cities, and at least six wounded in the Philippines.
The situation was especially tense in Jos in central Nigeria. It was hit by seven explosions that killed 32 and injured 74, many as they were doing their Christmas shopping, police said. In Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected militants attacked three churches, leaving six people dead and one of the churches burnt down.
In the Philippines, a bomb in a church on Jolo island during Christmas mass wounded six. Officials would not immediately name any suspects but the island is a bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to al Qaeda.
In his Urbi et Orbi address delivered at the Vatican, Pope Benedict called for respect for human rights in Afghanistan and Pakistan and an end to the turmoil in African troublespots.
He also rebuked the Communist rulers in Beijing for limitations placed on Christians living on the Chinese mainland.
But he reserved special mention for Christians living in fear in Iraq after 44 worshippers and two priests were killed in late October when militants laid siege to a church in Baghdad.
In Britain, the leader of the world’s Anglicans also urged people to remember those facing persecution because of their Christian faith.
“We may feel powerless to help; yet we should also know that people in such circumstances are strengthened simply by knowing they have not been forgotten,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
Although a relative easing of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians enabled more people to attend Christmas celebrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem this year, Benedict said the festivities marking Christ’s birth should focus attention on the need for peace.
“May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2010.
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