Pope Benedict in first Christmas
address
Last Modified: 25 Dec 2005
Source: ITN
Pope Benedict, in his first Christmas address, has urged humanity
to unite against terrorism, poverty and environmental blight.
He called for a "new world order" to
correct economic imbalances.
The Pope made his comments to tens of thousands of pilgrims
gathered under umbrellas in a rainy St Peter square for his "Urbi
et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message and blessing.
In his address, telecast live from the central balcony of St
Peter's Basilica to tens of millions of people in nearly 40
countries, he also urged his listeners not to let technological
achievements blind them to true human values.
He said humanity should look to the Christ child for encouragement
in times of difficulty and fear.
"A united humanity will be able to confront the many troubling
problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the
humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from
the proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental
destruction which threatens the future of our planet," he
said.
"Do not fear; put your trust in him! The life-giving power of his
light is an incentive for building a new world order based on just
ethical and economic relationships," he said, speaking in
Italian.
Marching bands of the Swiss Guard and Italian police played for the
crowd near a larger-than-life nativity scene, making for a festive
atmosphere despite the rain.
The address by the leader of the world's some 1.1 billion Roman
Catholics was different in style than those of his predecessor John
Paul, who died last April.
John Paul wrote his Christmas addresses in free-style verse and
resembled poetry, whereas Benedict's was in prose like a normal
homily or speech.
After the address, Benedict wished the world a Happy Christmas in
33 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili, Japanese and
Latin. His predecessor sometimes used twice as many languages on
Christmas.
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"He called for a "new world order" to
correct economic imbalances." 
Maggot, Pope Benedict calling for NWO leh. 