Coronavirus misery hung over Christmas preparations worldwide on Thursday, with countless millions forced to cancel plans or limit festivities under fresh virus lockdowns. On Thursday evening, St Peter's Square, usually thronged with people on Christmas Eve was deserted, illuminated by the glow of its towering Christmas tree and the lights of a police patrol car. The Christmas Eve mass commemorates in the Christian tradition the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem. In Christmas Eve messages earlier Thursday, the Pope expressed his desire to visit crisis-hit Lebanon and urged political leaders in South Sudan to continue working for peace. - Thin crowds in Bethlehem -Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, was preparing for a Christmas unlike any in its recent history.

Source: Mint December 25, 2020 00:22 UTC