Pope highlights plight of abused children

Pope Benedict XVI turned the spotlight on the plight of children who are abused, forced to live on the streets or serve as soldiers, at his Christmas Midnight Mass.

In the splendour of St Peter’s Basilica, Benedict marked the birth of Jesus with a call to the faithful to help children denied the love of their parents and those exploited across the world.

“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”.

He also spoke of minors who were “victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatised in the depths of their soul”.

The Pope did not specifically mention the issue of lawsuits and other complaints brought in the US and elsewhere by Catholics who allege they were sexually abused by priests when they were youngsters.

As he recalled the birth of Jesus in biblical Bethlehem, Benedict’s thoughts turned to the Holy Land and the pontiff prayed for an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

“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 travelled there in a 2000 pilgrimage.

As Midnight Mass began, 81-year-old Benedict, dressed in white and gold vestments, walked in a procession up the basilica’s main aisle, smiling and stopping several times to shake outstretched hands and bless children.

As a choir intoned a psalm, the Pope sprinkled incense on the central altar under Bernini’s towering bronze baldachin before opening the service with the traditional wish for peace in Latin: “Pax vobis” (“Peace be with you”). The faithful responded: “Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And also with you”).

Thousands of pilgrims, Romans and tourists packed the basilica for the midnight service. For those unable to enter there were giant screens set up in St Peter’s Square.

Earlier, as night fell on Christmas Eve, Benedict appeared briefly at his studio window to bless the crowd in chilly St. Peter’s Square and light a single candle in a sign of peace.

Before the Pope appeared in his darkened studio to light the flame, the Vatican’s number two official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the gesture was an invitation to all to pray for peace and think of those who are less fortunate.

“I say to all those who are listening, light the candle of peace inside yourself, light the candle of welcoming and understanding that will help you listen and share the cry of the poor and of those who suffer,” Cardinal Bertone said.

The Vatican’s Christmas festivities began with the unveiling of the larger-than-life Nativity scene next to the Vatican’s largest-ever Christmas tree in St Peter’s Square. Children in red-and-white Santa hats sang Italian holiday hymns as the Vatican’s Gendarmeria band played alongside.

Benedict delivers his traditional Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” speech – Latin for “to the city and to the world” – from the balcony of St Peter’s today, in which he often touches on current events and issues of concern to the Vatican. He is then expected to issue Christmas greetings to the faithful in more than 60 languages.

As Benedict left the basilica through the main aisle after the service, a person who had jumped the barriers got close to the pontiff but was quickly blocked on the ground by security.

The Vatican’s spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, said he did not know who the person was but said the disturbance had not caused problems.

“The Holy Father continued on his way calmly. I imagine it was someone who wanted to greet him or pay homage to him,” Mr Lombardi said.

“I have no reason to believe he was armed.”