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Caption: Demonstrators wave Israeli flags and chant pro-Israeli slogans during a gathering near the Israeli Embassy in Paris Jan. 4. (CNS/Reuters)
Demonstrators wave Israeli flags and chant pro-Israeli slogans during a gathering near the Israeli Embassy in Paris Jan. 4. (CNS/Reuters)
Gaza priest's message at Mass for peace: 'We cry and nobody hears us'

By Judith Sudilovsky
Catholic News Service

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- The pastor of the Catholic parish in Gaza City described Gaza as "drowning in blood" as hospitals overflowed with patients.

In a message to participants in a special Mass for peace at St. Stephen Church in Jerusalem Jan. 4, Msgr. Manuel Musallam, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, wrote: "What you see on television cannot be compared to what is happening. The word love is choking in my throat. ... We are living like animals in Gaza. We cry and nobody hears us. I am asking God for mercy and pray that the light of Christianity continues to shine in Gaza."
(full story)

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CNS NEWS BRIEFS
Caption: Palestinians take part in a prayer procession for peace outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan. 4. Dozens of people processed around Manger Square calling for an end to the current conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (CNS/Debbie Hill)
Palestinians take part in a prayer procession for peace outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan. 4. Dozens of people processed around Manger Square calling for an end to the current conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (CNS/Debbie Hill)
NEWS BRIEFS Jan-5-2009
By Catholic News Service
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THIS WEEK IN ORIGINS

Contents of Origins CNS Documentary Service, Vol. 38, No. 30 (Jan. 8, 2009):

-- The nativity of Christ reveals God making "himself dependent and weak, in need of our love," Pope Benedict XVI says in his homily for Christmas midnight Mass. The arrival of Christ as a child should remind people to think of the suffering some children endure, the pope adds.

-- In his annual Christmas message "urbi et orbi" (to the city of Rome and the world), Pope Benedict issues a call for peace throughout the world, urging a mentality of solidarity with others. Even before subsequent events in Gaza, the pope calls for peace in the Holy Land, where "the horizon seems once again bleak for Israelis and Palestinians."

-- Halfway through the year Catholics and Orthodox have dedicated to St. Paul, Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and a Pauline scholar, reflects on the pastoral legacy of the saint, noting his "adherence to the absolute nature of the truth of the Gospel" and his insistence on overcoming distinctions among believers.

-- The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference says President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe must be forced to step down due to his continued authoritarian hold on power and the resulting humanitarian crisis in the country. The conference criticizes African and world leaders who have given support, either overt or tacit, to Mugabe.

-- Even in an economy that grows bleaker each day, people must put their trust in God, Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit says in a pastoral letter. He says that, while people in the region have gone through downsizing before, the current crisis means that "things in Michigan will probably never be the same again" due to the state of the auto industry.
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AFRICA
Bishops pay tribute to Helen Suzman, 91, anti-apartheid leader
"If ever there was a South African who epitomized the belief that you are never too small to make a difference, it was Helen Suzman," the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said in a statement.

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