Christmas celebrated in Korea, around the world
- 6 years ago
Churches all across the world held special services on Christmas and Christmas Eve.
We start our newscast by taking a look at how people gathered to celebrate the holidays and remember its true meaning.
Yoon Jung-min has our top story.
To celebrate the birth of Jesus, Catholic and Protestant churches across Korea held religious services on the stroke of midnight on Tuesday and throughout Christmas day.
At Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul, a large crowd attended the mass to share the joyous occasion while chanting and praying for peace.
Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung sent a message of love and prayed for people in North Korea and for peace on the Korean peninsula.
"I hope the holy birth of Jesus will also be a new hope and light for our brothers in the North who are in a difficult situation."
On Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas Day, Protestant churches in Korea also celebrated the birth of Jesus with services and prayed for those in need.
Services were held in other parts of the world, too.
This year, Christmas came amid deep sorrow in Indonesia where a tsunami last weekend claimed hundreds of lives.
Churches in Indonesia commemorated the victims,... and people who attended services mourned and prayed for them.
At St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis presided over a mass to celebrate the day.
During the service, he condemned the divide between rich and poor, and emphasized how the meaning of life doesn't come from material possessions, reflecting on the birth of Jesus in poverty.
"In our day, for many people, life's meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive."
He urged for "sharing and giving" while criticizing the greed of today's consumerism.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.
We start our newscast by taking a look at how people gathered to celebrate the holidays and remember its true meaning.
Yoon Jung-min has our top story.
To celebrate the birth of Jesus, Catholic and Protestant churches across Korea held religious services on the stroke of midnight on Tuesday and throughout Christmas day.
At Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul, a large crowd attended the mass to share the joyous occasion while chanting and praying for peace.
Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung sent a message of love and prayed for people in North Korea and for peace on the Korean peninsula.
"I hope the holy birth of Jesus will also be a new hope and light for our brothers in the North who are in a difficult situation."
On Christmas Eve and throughout Christmas Day, Protestant churches in Korea also celebrated the birth of Jesus with services and prayed for those in need.
Services were held in other parts of the world, too.
This year, Christmas came amid deep sorrow in Indonesia where a tsunami last weekend claimed hundreds of lives.
Churches in Indonesia commemorated the victims,... and people who attended services mourned and prayed for them.
At St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis presided over a mass to celebrate the day.
During the service, he condemned the divide between rich and poor, and emphasized how the meaning of life doesn't come from material possessions, reflecting on the birth of Jesus in poverty.
"In our day, for many people, life's meaning is found in possessing, in having an excess of material objects. An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, paradoxically, a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive."
He urged for "sharing and giving" while criticizing the greed of today's consumerism.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.