Cardinal George Pell greets worshippers after Christmas Mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Picture: Dan Himbrechts Source: The Australian
THOUSANDS of worshippers packed cathedrals around the country today to celebrate Christmas Day.
It was standing room only inside St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney today for Christmas Mass, which was led by the nation's most senior Catholic, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell.
The mass came just after Pope Benedict XVI prayed for peace in the Middle East and reminded the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to find time for God and others in their hectic lives as he celebrated a traditional Christmas Eve mass.
At noon local time (10pm AEDT), the pontiff is scheduled to deliver his Christmas Day blessings and multilingual Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) messages.
In his homily today, Cardinal Pell focused on the life of St Francis of Assisi, and said the birth of Jesus contained a message "that produces love and goodness".
"This baby did grow up to redeem us by his life, death and resurrection," Cardinal Pell said.
"This is the message of Christmas."
Outside church, one worshipper, Sean, said he'd travelled in from Ryde in the city's northwest for the service with his wife and son, who was singing in the choir.
The service was a chance to connect with his family's past, Sean said.
"My father has always come, my grandfather has always come, and my son has decided he wants to come - it goes back generations," he said.
"It's a link to the people we've lost, and it's a link to something deeper that I can't explain."
Paul, 32, had driven from Kogarah in the city's south to the CBD "to feel the Christmas spirit".
"I don't actually come to church all that often, but it was really good.
"I enjoy the hymns most of all."
In his annual Christmas message this year, Cardinal Pell apologised to those who had "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.
He did not specifically mention allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, but said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred.
Christmas celebrations at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral included a Lord's supper followed by a number of Christmas services through the day.
These included performances by a brass band and church choir. There was also an address by Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen.
In his annual Christmas message, released earlier, Dr Jensen said Christmas was a time to fix feuds and to forgive.
"Sometimes we need to make good the fault, to pay back, to apologise, to repair, to mend.
"Sometimes, justice means that we take the hurt on ourselves and simply forgive the other person without demanding recompense," said Dr Jensen, who retires in mid-2013.
Agencies
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