Hundreds of worshippers, both Palestinians and foreigners, attended the Midnight Mass at the Church of Nativity in the West Bank.
The regular cheering was absent, and no Christmas tree or decorations covered the walls of the Church, widely revered as the birthplace of Jesus, due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was present at the church.
Before the mass, Israeli authorities allowed a rare Gaza visit by Cardinal Pizzaballa for the mass, to celebrate a pre-Christmas Mass with Gaza’s small Christian community, as the ever-present buzz of Israeli drones continued sounding outside.
Speaking on the war, Pizzaballa said “war is terrible with all the consequences of division, and we are in the place where divisions are very evident also from the structural point of view. To go through, the meaning is that it is possible even where there are enormous and difficult walls – it’s possible to just pass them if we want.”
Pizzaballa continued saying “and we want, especially for this Christmas, we want to tell our people not to lose hope. It’s possible also to break down the most difficult wall, the hatred, the division, the contempt, and the lack of justice and dignity that we are experiencing here.”
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem’s visit to Gaza came as Pope Francis again criticised Israel’s actions in its ongoing war.
Christmas time is usually one of high tourism for the historical city of Bethlehem. The yearly religious celebration, shared among Armenian, Catholic and Orthodox denominations are usually major boons for the city. More than two million tourists and pilgrims usually visit the birthplace of Jesus, accounting for more than 70% of the city’s yearly income.
But this year, the streets are empty and there are almost no tourists. The cardinal said he hopes to see this reversed next year, and once again witness the Holy Land crowded with pilgrims, “the Church of the Holy Land, the Church of Jerusalem, without pilgrims is not complete”.
“I have to say that Christmas in Bethlehem is always nice, but this time is the second year we have a sad Christmas in Bethlehem” said Pizzaballa.
Reflecting a message of hope, Pizzaballa says he hopes to see the biggest Christmas tree in the city, and witness the festivities and cheering of this joyous period, restored to the holy city.
Echoing the same message is Anton Salman, Mayor of Bethlehem. Salman says the message of the city to the world is always one of peace and hope. Salman says the world also must work to reciprocate that message on the Palestinian territories.
“The world must work to end our suffering as Palestinian people, to end the occupation and to give us our rights and to give us the opportunity to achieve our identity, our independence, our freedom, and to protect us from the dangers that caused by the continuous of the Israeli occupation.”
Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land.
