VATICAN CITY – Christmas is not a children’s fairytale, it is God’s answer to humanity’s thirst for real peace, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Christ’s birth in Bethlehem was part of a divine plan, which is “a plan of peace,” he said Dec. 20 before his midday recitation of the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.
“Bethlehem is also a city-symbol of peace in the Holy Land and throughout the whole world,” he said.
“Unfortunately, (Bethlehem) currently does not represent an achieved and stable peace, but a peace that is arduously sought after and longed for. But God never resigns himself to this state of affairs, and so once again this year, in Bethlehem and the whole world, the mystery of Christmas will be renewed in the church,” he said.
The pope said the meaning of Christmas compels Christians to become personally involved in the human dramas and conflicts around them, acting as Jesus did to bring “to bring love where there is hatred, pardon where there is injury, joy where there is sadness, and truth where there is error.”
“Today, as at the time of Jesus, Christmas is not a fairytale for children, but is God’s answer to the drama of humanity in search of real peace,” the pope said.