Pope opens Christmas amid fresh security fears

Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Christmas Eve with an evening Mass on Friday amid heightened security concerns following the package bombings at two Rome embassies and Christmas Eve security breaches at the Vatican the past two years running.

Benedict processed down the central aisle of St. Peter's Basilica at the start of the Mass without incident; with his normal phalanx of bodyguards on either side, he stopped twice to bless babies held up to him from the pews. (AP)