Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

From the Immelman family, Sartell, Minnesota

THE POPE’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE — URBI ET ORBI

Pope Decries Selfishness in Economic Crisis

Pontiff says world headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Christmas Day blessing from St. Peter’s Basilica. (Photo credit: Franco Origlia / Getty Images)

The Associated Press and Reuters via MSNBC.com 
Dec. 24, 2008

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI warned in his Christmas message Thursday that the world was headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity during tough economic times for rich and poor nations.

Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict said he was trying to inspire hope in the world. …

The traditional papal Christmas Day message “Urbi et Orbi” – Latin for “to the City and to the World” – usually covers the globe’s hot spots, but this year Benedict also addressed the economic conditions worrying many across the planet amid near-daily news of layoffs, failing companies and people losing homes. …

Singles out Zimbabwe

Wearing a crimson mantle against a damp chill, Benedict told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square that God’s saving grace could “alone transform evil into good” and “change human hearts, making them oases of peace.”

Benedict dedicated part of his message to Africa, singling out Zimbabwe, where hunger is spreading and deepening. He said that people there were “trapped for too long in a political and social crisis which, sadly, keeps worsening.”

International pressure has been mounting for longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe to step down, following disputed elections in March. Millions of Zimbabwe’s people need food aid, and a cholera epidemic has sharpened problems in a country once considered African’s breadbasket.

Plea for Mideast peace

Benedict spoke of violence and tensions in the Middle East, lamenting that “the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians.”

He denounced what he called the “twisted logic of conflict and violence” and said he hoped dialogue and negotiation would prevail to find “just and lasting solutions to the conflicts troubling the region.”

Benedict also cited Lebanon and Iraq.

Without naming any particular groups, the pope called for an end to “internecine conflict” dividing ethnic and social groups and disrupting peaceful coexistence. He also denounced terrorism “wherever” it continues to strike. …

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Conflict in Iraq video

Christmas about ‘hope’ for U.S. troops (MSNBC, Dec. 25, 2008) — For U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Christmas is a time to reflect upon “prayers and memories of home.” NBCs Martin Fletcher reports. (01:28)

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Christmas Day Bomb Kills Four in Baghdad 

A U.S. soldier holds a candle and a prayer booklet during Christmas celebrations at Camp Liberty in Baghdad late on December 24, 2008. (Photo credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP — Getty Images)

Dec. 25, 2008

BAGHDAD — A car bomb near a popular restaurant killed four people and wounded 25 in northwestern Baghdad on Thursday, police said.

The explosion in the Shiite district of Shula occurred while police officers and construction workers were eating breakfast on Christmas Day. Casualties included police officers and civilians, police said. …

A few hours later, a suicide car bomber targeting a U.S. military patrol killed three people and wounded 14 in Muqdadiya, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said. …

The Shi’ite-led Iraqi government declared Thursday, Christmas Day, a national holiday to show what it said was its solidarity with minority non-Muslim religious groups in Iraq.

A week ago, twin bomb blasts killed 18 people and wounded 53 in central Baghdad.