In their annual Christmas message, the Christian patriarchs of the Holy Land have reminded the faithful that “the Lord himself was born in order to give us hope.”
Although their people have been living in “inconsolable misery and sorrow” since the outbreak of war there, the Church leaders observe that “the killing of children and military occupation” were also characteristics of the time when Christ was born.
Their message concludes with a prayer that “the hope of Christmas will indeed be born once again, beginning in Bethlehem and extending from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.”