Page 80 - Nativity News Today

Holy family. and this is seen as a connecting point between heaven and earth. to our right, we have the armenian altar... [ music continues ] ...and to the left, a small altar, as well. here in bethlehem, we get christmas three times. >> [ chuckles ] >> we have christmas on december 25th for the western rite, and the catholics will celebrate christmas eve mass there and then bring a doll of jesus and put it in the grotto of the nativity. on january 7th, we have greek orthodox christmas, and then...

Local tradition held this as jesus birthplace, and so in 326 a.d., helena, the mother of the emperor constantine, built the first church of the nativity here. it was restored by the emperor justinian in 529 a.d. and enhanced later on by the crusaders. well, ive also heard that the idea behind the door was to make people bow down. >> to be humble, yeah. its not entirely -- its not impossible, by any means. >> once inside this ancient building, visitors see a sight drastically different from the h...

Father murphy-oconnor took us there. >> now were in the grotto. see? there are two altars. this is the grotto of the nativity, and if you put your hand through that hole, you can touch the bedrock. [ men singing ] then on this side, this is the altar of the manger. >> even in this peaceful place, there are long-running disputes. the altar of the manger belongs to the franciscan monks. the altar of the nativity, or birth, belongs to the greek orthodox. their rights are defined in a treaty. the ot...

When is he going to act to transform our situation, to bring justice and peace to the world?" >> regardless of the facts, fictions, and faith, the nativity stories become much more meaningful when we know the history of the first century in the holy land. >> most christians today think of christmas just as a cute family festival with presents and christmas trees and so on. its actually the most powerful and subversive thing that we could be celebrating. its about the entire overthrow of the way ...

Basilica and called on catholics worldwide to spread the church at teaching of forgiveness. meantime were addressed in the middle east mark this database service that the church of the nativity. on huddy live in jerusalem where the holy land is not that peaceful this christmas. >> reporter: no it isnt. there are prayers for peace today during the mass at the church of the nativity but there was violence once again. i will get to that in a moment but first as you mentioned there was the mass this...

Fact of jesus is going to draw people from east and west and north and south. [ choir singing hymn ] >> the nativity scene as we envision it today is largely a result of the devotion of saint francis of assisi, who had life-size nativity scenes with live animals. so there are some elements of the way christmas is celebrated which go beyond what we find in the gospel texts. >> so many reenactments of the nativity show this drama about making it to bethlehem and how difficult it was. would he trav...

But this is not the one youre thinking of, warren greene in new york city with the 21st century. at holy child jesus church in queens, new york, the nativity encompasses the parishs very identity. the birth of another babe a few weeks ago brought the church an updated version of its namesake. >> theres no such thing as a coincidence with god. >> baby boy barely two hours old was left in the churchs manger. his single mother, who told reporters she was unable to care for him, placed him here in...

Palestinians. john huddy reporting live from the middle east bureau in nearby jerusalem. >> reporter: certainly violence is on peoples mines, people that are visiting in the holy city of jerusalem and bethlehem for the christmas celebrations, but hasnt deterred the christian faithful, pilgrims from flocking to and going to manger square in bethlehem. take a live look, a shot of the activities going on, thousands of people in manger square, the 50 foot tall christmas trees there with the church a...

Christmas. and fascinating legal case. one man suing his ex-wife over what shes writing on the alimony checks shes sending to him. join me at the top of the hour. a real life christmas story unfolding here in new york city after a newborn boy is found abandoned in a church nativity scene. chief religion correspondent lauren green has the story. ♪ >> reporter: at holy child jesus church in queens, new york, the nativity encompasses the very identity. the birth of another babe just a few wee...

And schools free of charge and help them fight back. theres a war, not just on christmas but a war on christianity in america, and you cover this all the time on your show, but, look, when people say theres no such thing as a war on christmas, i want to challenge peek. a few weeks ago a federal judge told a school they had to take the nativity out of their christmas pageant. >> you have a christmas special, and you got a lot of music in yours. tell me about it. >> my goodness. were putting the j...