thedrifter
12-26-08, 08:05 AM
December 26, 2008
Christmas around the globe has special meaning for many
Many around the globe celebrated Christmas on Thursday. The holiday had special meaning for some Iraqis and U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Hawaiians welcomed home a native son for the holidays, and the head of Christianity's largest denomination urged people to hold on to hope.
Let's begin in Baghdad, Iraq ...
Iraq officially recognizes Christmas as holiday
The pews were packed for the Christmas liturgy in Baghdad's Greek Orthodox church, a sign to the Rev. Younan Yacob that the city had grown safer for its Christian minority over the past year.
Yacob's family is living abroad, but he remains in Baghdad, committed to his congregation, despite the lures of safety and opportunity that have pulled away as much as half of the roughly 800,000 Christians who lived in Iraq before the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The government of Iraq has tried to telegraph a message that the country is safe enough for Christian refugees to return this year. And this Christmas was the first time the Christian holiday was recognized by the Iraqi government as an official holiday.
"I thank the government ... for making this day an official holiday where we pray to God to make us trust each other as brothers," said Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly.
In Afghanistan, troops spread holiday cheer
In Delaram, Afghanistan, there was little hint of Christmas when the sun rose over the barren U.S. military base.
Marine officers made sure every Marine had the chance to call home.
"It's important for the morale of my boys," explained Lt. Phil Gilreath, 23, of Kingwood, Texas, a platoon commander.
In the days leading up to Christmas, some Marines put up small Christmas trees and holiday lights. Others spent their evenings watching Christmas movies on their laptops. Some stared at care packages, waiting until Thursday to open them.
Later, Navy chaplain Steven Unger, 50, of Springdale, Ark., led about 15 Marines in a church service in the base conference room. They read Psalm 96 and sang "Silent Night." For communion, Unger used bread and grape juice from the chow hall.
Pope: In uncertain times, don't lose hope
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.
Speaking from a 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."
O, Little town: 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 appearing to be easing.
At the Church of the Nativity, Brad Shannon, 28, a mechanic from Atlanta, 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. "It's not every Christmas that you're surrounded with people from all over the world."
Obama home for holidays in Hawaii
President-elect Barack Obama spent Christmas morning with family at an oceanfront rental home in Hawaii.
Obama is spending 12 days in Kailua, about a half-hour from his childhood home of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. So far, the incoming commander-in-chief has mostly stayed around the $9-million beachfront rental property, except for trips to play golf and exercise at a nearby Marine Corps base.
While Obama's aides have taken steps to keep the vacation low-profile, they haven't been entirely successful. Photographers captured images of Obama scattering his grandmother's ashes Tuesday while the press corps waited in a bus. Another photographer captured the future first family -- including a shirtless Obama -- in the backyard.
Compiled from Free Press news services
Ellie
Christmas around the globe has special meaning for many
Many around the globe celebrated Christmas on Thursday. The holiday had special meaning for some Iraqis and U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Hawaiians welcomed home a native son for the holidays, and the head of Christianity's largest denomination urged people to hold on to hope.
Let's begin in Baghdad, Iraq ...
Iraq officially recognizes Christmas as holiday
The pews were packed for the Christmas liturgy in Baghdad's Greek Orthodox church, a sign to the Rev. Younan Yacob that the city had grown safer for its Christian minority over the past year.
Yacob's family is living abroad, but he remains in Baghdad, committed to his congregation, despite the lures of safety and opportunity that have pulled away as much as half of the roughly 800,000 Christians who lived in Iraq before the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The government of Iraq has tried to telegraph a message that the country is safe enough for Christian refugees to return this year. And this Christmas was the first time the Christian holiday was recognized by the Iraqi government as an official holiday.
"I thank the government ... for making this day an official holiday where we pray to God to make us trust each other as brothers," said Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly.
In Afghanistan, troops spread holiday cheer
In Delaram, Afghanistan, there was little hint of Christmas when the sun rose over the barren U.S. military base.
Marine officers made sure every Marine had the chance to call home.
"It's important for the morale of my boys," explained Lt. Phil Gilreath, 23, of Kingwood, Texas, a platoon commander.
In the days leading up to Christmas, some Marines put up small Christmas trees and holiday lights. Others spent their evenings watching Christmas movies on their laptops. Some stared at care packages, waiting until Thursday to open them.
Later, Navy chaplain Steven Unger, 50, of Springdale, Ark., led about 15 Marines in a church service in the base conference room. They read Psalm 96 and sang "Silent Night." For communion, Unger used bread and grape juice from the chow hall.
Pope: In uncertain times, don't lose hope
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.
Speaking from a 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."
O, Little town: 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 appearing to be easing.
At the Church of the Nativity, Brad Shannon, 28, a mechanic from Atlanta, 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. "It's not every Christmas that you're surrounded with people from all over the world."
Obama home for holidays in Hawaii
President-elect Barack Obama spent Christmas morning with family at an oceanfront rental home in Hawaii.
Obama is spending 12 days in Kailua, about a half-hour from his childhood home of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. So far, the incoming commander-in-chief has mostly stayed around the $9-million beachfront rental property, except for trips to play golf and exercise at a nearby Marine Corps base.
While Obama's aides have taken steps to keep the vacation low-profile, they haven't been entirely successful. Photographers captured images of Obama scattering his grandmother's ashes Tuesday while the press corps waited in a bus. Another photographer captured the future first family -- including a shirtless Obama -- in the backyard.
Compiled from Free Press news services
Ellie