‘Sorrow and silence’ in Bethlehem as Christmas festivities are cancelled
by Bethan McKernan in Bethlehem from World news | The Guardian on (#6HCR2)
The streets are usually thronged with tourists and pilgrims but this year the town is mourning the dead of the Gaza war
In the days leading up to Christmas, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said that one particular Bible verse kept running through his mind.
When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem she gave birth to the Lord in a manger because there was no room for them'," he told about 5,000 people during the Christmas Eve midnight mass service in the Palestinian town where Christians believe Jesus was born.
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