On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Benedict XVI said Christmas is “God’s answer to the human drama in search of real peace”, not “a fairy tale”. He was speaking before the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

In this time full of expectation and hope, the Pope invited everyone to turn their gaze to Bethlehem, which he called “the city-symbol of peace in the Holy Land and throughout the world.” The Pope acknowledged with deep regret that “unfortunately, nowadays, the city has not achieved a stable peace, yet a peace strongly sought after and desired.”

But, The Holy Father said, “God never resigns Himself to this state of things, and this is why this year in Bethlehem and throughout the world the mystery of Christmas will be renewed in the Church, the prophecy of peace for every man”, an event that commits Christians to immerse themselves in the closures, in the dramas, often unknown and hidden, and in the conflicts, which are the context within which we live, with the sentiments of Jesus, to become messengers and instruments of peace everywhere.