Pope Francis of Christmas: Faith calls for respect for immigrants

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has strongly defended immigrants as he held the Mass of Christmas.

On this night, he compared immigrants to Mary and Joseph as they found no room to stay in Betleeu, while declaring that faith requires strangers to be welcomed.

Pope Francis, while celebrating his fifth Christmas as leader of 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, held solemn mass for about 10,000 people on St. Peter's Basilica, while many others attended the ministry from outside the square.

This was held under strict security as participants were checked after approaching St. Peter's Square even before crossing metal detectors to enter the basilica.

The square was cleared hours ago so security procedures could be introduced, Reuters writes.