Ramallah: President Mahmoud Abbas received an invitation to attend the Christmas Mass in Bethlehem, celebrated according to the Western calendar. The invitation was extended by Custos of the Holy Land Father Francesco Ielpo and Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land Father Ibrahim Faltas.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the meeting took place at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, with Ramzi Khouri, Head of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, and Samir Hazboun, a member of the Presidential Committee, also in attendance.
President Abbas took the opportunity to extend his congratulations to the Palestinian people, particularly the Christian churches that follow the Western calendar, on the occasion of these holidays. He expressed his hope that the celebrations would coincide with the end of the occupation's injustice, aspiring for the attainment of freedom and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
