Faithful flock Bethlehem, Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Christmas Eve mass

Bethlehem’s Manger Square was once again filled with music, lights and laughter on Christmas Eve, as thousands gathered to celebrate the holiday after two years of muted observances caused by the war in Gaza. For many families, the return of festivities marked more than a religious occasion — it was a long-awaited sign of hope.

A towering Christmas tree stood at the heart of the square, replacing last year’s wartime nativity scene that depicted the infant Jesus amid rubble and barbed wire. While the scars of conflict remain visible across the region, this year’s celebrations offered a moment of relief and renewal.

“This is the beginning of the return of normal life,” said Bethlehem tour guide Georgette Jackaman, celebrating with her husband and their two young children. Like many in the city, the couple depends on tourism, which collapsed during the war. Bethlehem’s unemployment rate soared from 14 per cent to 65 per cent, according to Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati, forcing thousands to leave in search of work.

Yet signs of recovery are emerging. Though foreign visitors remain few, locals say tourism is slowly returning. Jackaman and her husband spent the past year selling Palestinian handicrafts online to support families who lost their livelihoods.

Church leaders also embraced a message of resilience. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, led the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.” He shared greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community, where he recently celebrated Mass amid widespread devastation.

“We decide to be the light,” Pizzaballa told the crowd. “And the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world.”

At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV presided over his first Midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica. In his homily, he marvelled at the "wisdom" of the Christmas story — an infant Jesus born to save mankind. "In the face of the suffering of the poor, (God) sends one who is defenceless to be the strength to rise again," the first US pope told a packed basilica.

Elsewhere across the region, celebrations highlighted the endurance of Christian communities. In Nazareth, children lined the streets for the return of the traditional Christmas parade, while in Gaza, worshippers gathered at the territory’s only Catholic church for Christmas Eve Mass. In Syria, congregants prepared to return to a church that had been struck by a deadly attack earlier this year.

Back in Bethlehem, marching bands once again filled the streets, their music echoing through the hills. For families who endured years of loss and uncertainty, Christmas did not erase the hardships — but it offered something just as powerful: hope.

As one visitor from France put it, “Christmas is hope in very dark situations.”