OVER two billion Christians all over the world on Wednesday celebrate the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. From Nigeria to the rest of Africa, Europe, Asia, The Americas, Christians mark Christmas with funfair, more than two thousand years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem.
Christmas, which has evolved into an annual occasion, is a season of love, hope, joy, togetherness, and charity.
Pope Francis will preside over the Christmas Eve mass in St Peter’s, before delivering his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world), at midday on Wednesday.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has recently been suffering from a cold, was pushed up to the huge, ornate bronze door in a wheelchair and knocked on it before the doors opened and he went through as the bells of the Vatican Basilica rang out.