birthplace of jesus, the big draw being midnight mass with the latin patriarch of jerusalem made special mention of plastan president abass and one of those allowing the pass of the u.n. resolution on friday and on the minds of people who attended mass today. politics aside, tourism numbers were up in bethlehem because of the quiet, compared to last year when there was a wave of terror attacks in part of israel, including jerusalem and the west bank leading up to christmas and on christmas eve and christmas day. so while it may be calmer this year, there is always an underlying tension as terrorism and war continues to plague the middle east and that was part of the message today at the vatican. thousands packed st. peter's square to here pope francis's christmas message calling for peace and co existence in a world he said scarred by war,