Christmas pilgrims voice hope for peace
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Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Friday (local time), welcoming the new thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations and voicing hopes for peace in the Middle East.
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Pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of Jesusâ birth with prayers for peace on Saturday, lifted by fresh hope following Yasser Arafat&#39;s death.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Hundreds of millions around the world prepared Friday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Christmas festival of religious joy for many and commercial excess for others, against a backdrop of continuing global security
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Hundreds of millions people around the world celebrated on Saturday the birth of Jesus Christ as appeals rang out from Jesus&#39; birthplace in Bethlehem to the Vatican for peace in the Middle East.
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Pope John Paul II offered Christmas wishes Saturday for a world where he said timid but hopeful efforts at peace coexist with worries over over Iraq, the Holy Land and several tragic conflicts in Africa.
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Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Friday, welcoming the new thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations and voicing hopes for peace in the Middle East.
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Hundreds of millions of Christians Saturday are celebrating Christmas, despite conflict, persecution and fear of terrorist attack.
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Pope John Paul II called for an ``end to the spread of violence&#39;&#39; and for support to ``sustain the efforts to build peace&#39;&#39; in his annual Christmas Day message.
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Christians around the world have begun celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, with observances marking Christmas Eve. In Bethlehem, the town of Jesus&#39;s birth, Israel has relaxed travel restrictions
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Thousands of pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem on Monday for a Christmas mass which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Western powers hope will highlight the benefits of peacemaking.
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VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II expressed &quot;great apprehension&quot; about the war in Iraq and other world hot spots, as he delivered his annual Christmas Day message to thousands of followers in Rome&#39;s St Peter&#39;s Square.
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Pope John Paul II prepares to deliver his Christmas message, expected to focus on conflicts around the world.
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Christians around the world celebrated Christmas Saturday with Pope John Paul II leading prayers for peace and a more tranquil future, as pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem, and Iraqis stayed away from church amid fears of bomb attacks.
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BAGHDAD -- During Christmases past, Iraqi Christians crowded into the Virgin Mary Church on Karada Street, jovial congregants young and old spilling out noisily onto the sidewalk to celebrate Mass. Even last year, the first Christmas in the shaky postwar era, the pews were nearly filled to their 800-person capacity.
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Pope John Paul II ushered in Christmas on Friday by celebrating midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, praying that world leaders will strive for peace and that Jews, Muslims and Christians will live harmoniously in the Holy Land.
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Palestinians lit a four-story Christmas tree in this biblical town Saturday, kicking off a holiday season free of fighting with Israel that officials say will bring the most pilgrims since hostilities broke out seven years ago.
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The Pope has called for peace in Iraq and Sudan during his traditional Christmas message in freezing rain in front of thousands of pilgrims to Rome.