Pope appeals for solidarity amid tough economy

Business was brisk on Christmas in Bethlehem.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI urged a world confronting a financial crisis, conflict, and increasing poverty not to lose hope at Christmas, but to join in “authentic solidarity” to prevent global ruin.

His message of salvation amid growing concern about the economic meltdown facing rich and poor nations alike was echoed across the continent in London, where Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II called for courage in response to the rough times.

Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans in the square below, the pope called his Christmas message known as “Urbi et Orbi” — Latin for “to the City and to the World” — a “proclamation of hope.” And he stressed that it was “meant for all men and women.”

As the global economy continues to spiral downward, Benedict said, “an increasingly uncertain future is regarded with apprehension, even in affluent nations.”

“In each of these places, may the light of Christmas shine forth and encourage all people to do their part in a spirit of authentic solidarity,” he said. “If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart.”

Wearing a crimson mantle against a damp chill, Benedict expressed hope that dialogue and negotiation would prevail to find “just and lasting solutions” to conflicts in the Holy Land and elsewhere in the Middle East.

He decried suffering in Africa, terrorism, and called for an end to “internecine conflict” dividing ethnic and social groups.

The pope singled out the plight of those in war-torn eastern Congo, in Sudan’s Darfur region, in Somalia where he said “interminable” suffering is the tragic consequence of “the lack of stability and peace” — and in Zimbabwe where people have been “trapped for all too long in a political and social crisis which, sadly, keeps worsening.”

Benedict condemned the “twisted logic of conflict and violence” in the Middle East, which he is likely to visit next year. He lamented that “the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians.”

“May the divine light of Bethlehem radiate throughout the Holy Land,” he said. “May it spread throughout Lebanon, Iraq and the whole Middle East.”

Following tradition, the pope recited holiday greetings in 64 languages, including Latin, the Church’s official tongue.

In Bethlehem, crowds of tourists joined local Palestinian Christians in marking Christmas in Jesus’ traditional birthplace. Merchants and innkeepers reported good business for the first time in years with tensions between Israelis and West Bank Palestinians appeared to be easing.

At the Church of the Nativity, Brad Shannon, 28, a mechanic from Atlanta Georgia, said he saved money all year to make the trip to Bethlehem with three friends.

“I came here to see the oldest church that is still in use,” he said.