Iraqi Christians Pray for Peace on Sombre Christmas
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Iraqi Christians won't be celebrating  Christmas this year. Midnight mass, the centerpiece of  Christmas festivities in Iraq, has been canceled because of  night-time curfews.
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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 today said he was praying for the Iraqi people after militants bombed two churches in Mosul, the latest anti-Christian violence in the country.
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Hundreds of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership came to Bethlehem for Christmas as the town of Jesus's birth celebrated the festival with new hopes for peace following Yasser Arafat's death.
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Thousands of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of Jesus's birth Saturday with prayers for peace after the death of Yasser Arafat.
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VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II offered Christmas wishes yesterday for a world where he said timid but hopeful efforts at peace coexist with worries over Iraq, the Holy Land, and Africa.
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Pope John Paul told the world in his Christmas message on Saturday that people were yearning for peace everywhere around the globe and expressed particular concern for Iraq, the Middle East and Africa.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Thousands of pilgrims and  a new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town  of Jesus's birth Saturday with prayers for peace after the  death of Yasser Arafat.
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Fear still pervades life in Iraq despite a recent reduction in violence, the spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics said Monday, making a Christmas appeal for refugees who have fled the country to return nonetheless.
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Hundreds of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership came to Bethlehem for Christmas as the town of Jesus&#39;s birth celebrated the festival with new hopes for peace following Yasser Arafat&#39;s death.
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ISKANDARIYA, Iraq  - The first stroke of Christmas  found U.S. Marines blasting down doors in a hunt for an  insurgent leader in one of Iraq's most hostile towns, hoping to  serve him up to their commanding officer as a Yuletide gift.
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Only a few Iraqi Christians showed up to celebrate Mass in Baghdad's churches on Saturday because of fears that Islamic militants could launch attacks to coincide with the holiday.
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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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SHEIKH ADI, Iraq  - Worshippers sacrifice fowl and  offer dawn prayers to the angel Malak Taus as hundreds of  members Iraq's obscure Yezidi sect gather at their Lalish  temple to celebrate the summer feast.
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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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KERBALA, Iraq  - A major Shi'ite ritual ended peacefully in the southern city of Kerbala on Saturday after Iraqi forces imposed tight security around 2.5 million pilgrims, but attacks in the north killed nine worshippers.
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A limited easing of security tensions raises hopes for a better Christmas.