December 24, 2023 at 5:54 p.m. EST The Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, as he arrives at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem West Bank, on, Sunday, Dec. 24. (Heidi Levine/for The Washington Post)Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave BETHLEHEM, West Bank — On Christmas … Read more
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town Sunday after Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists and jubilant youth marching bands … Read more
VATICAN CITY — Recalling Jesus’ birth in a stable in Bethlehem, Pope Francis in a Christmas Eve homily said that “the clash of arms even today” prevents Jesus “from finding room in the world.” The pontiff presided Sunday over the evening Mass attended by about 6,500 faithful who took their place amid the splendor of … Read more
December 23, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. EST The newborn Jesus is swaddled in a kaffiyeh amid rubble in a Nativity scene expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave BETHLEHEM, … Read more