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December 26th, 2013 
David Schulberg Christians celebrated Christmas globally amid a festive atmosphere as prayers were read out, hoping that peace would prevail across the world.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis presided over his first Christmas Mass since he was elected and called on adopting the way of loving God and man.
Pope Francis
He called for humanitarian aid access in Syria and “social harmony” in South Sudan on his first Christmas in the Vatican after months of shaking up the papacy with his humble style
“Too many lives have been shattered in recent times by the conflict in Syria, fueling hatred and vengeance,” the 77-year-old pope told a crowd of tens of thousands in St Peter’s Square.
“Let us continue to ask the Lord to spare the beloved Syrian people of further suffering, and to enable the parties in conflict to put an end to all violence and guarantee access to humanitarian aid,” he said.
He told thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to pray for a peaceful end to the violence in Syria and other conflict zones.
The Argentine Pope also said tragic incidents involving migrants trying to reach Europe should not be repeated.
He also called for peace in Iraq and a successful outcome in talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
Expanding on his concept of peace, Francis said: “True peace is not a balancing of opposing forces. It’s not a lovely facade which conceals conflicts and division. Peace calls for daily commitment.”
In Bethlehem, the cradle of Christianity, the Palestinians celebrated the occasion as President Mahmoud Abbas and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the European Union Catherine Ashton attended Christmas mass.
In Syria, the feast’s joy did not appear as the citizens stayed home to shun the terrorist attacks that have stormed the country since over 2 years.
In Iraq, the worshipers took the advantage of the improving stability to fill the churches and asserted the importance of clinging to the land.
The Christians also celebrated Christmas all over the western countries. But unfortunately Syrian people couldn’t because of those anti Islamist Wahhabis and the so called freedom fighters.
Source Article from http://www.syrianews.cc/pope-prays-syria-world-peace/
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