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(Reuters/Suhaib Salem/Ammar Awad/MaanImages)

Greek Orthodox clergy and worshipers take part in Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and Gaza City.

"The message of peace started in Bethlehem, and the Church announces today a message of peace, tolerance and reconciliation," Patriarch Theophilos III said at midnight mass in Bethlehem.

Assyrian, Coptic, Greek Orthodox and Ethiopian Patriarchs arrived in Bethlehem on Sunday from Jerusalem, entering via a checkpoint in the north of the city.