Pope kicks off Christmas celebrations in shadow of wars

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories — Pope Francis on Sunday kicked off global Christmas celebrations with a call for peace, as Israel's war on Hamas and Russia's invasion of Ukraine cast a shadow over one of the world's favourite holidays.

Revellers the world over, meanwhile, donned Santa's red caps for a shot of holiday cheer -- running a city race in Skopje, North Macedonia, surfing the waves in Florida, jogging along muddy wooded paths on the outskirts of Paris, dipping in the sea near the port of Dover, and soaking with a drink in hand in Lake Geneva.

And children around the globe tracked Santa, his reindeer and their present-laden sleigh with the help of www.noradsanta.org, a 3-D interactive website run annually by a joint US-Canadian military monitoring agency.

Having said earlier in the day that he was thinking of people "who are suffering from war -- we are thinking of Palestine, of Israel, of Ukraine", the pope struck a sombre tone during his Christmas Eve mass.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," the pope said.

Bethlehem, the biblical city in the occupied West Bank where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born in a manger more than 2000 years ago, effectively cancelled the annual Christmas celebrations that normally draw thousands of tourists.

The town did away with its giant Christmas tree, marching bands and flamboyant nativity scene this year, settling for just a few festive lights.

In the centre of town, a huge Palestinian flag had been unfolded with a banner declaring that "The bells of Bethlehem ring for a ceasefire in Gaza".

"A lot of people are dying for this land," said Nicole Najjar, an 18-year-old student.

"It's really hard to celebrate while our people are dying."

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said: "We are here to pray and to ask not only for a ceasefire, a ceasefire is not enough, we have to stop these hostilities and to turn the page because violence generates only violence".

In Syria, churches limited celebrations to prayers in solidarity with the