Bethlehem, West Bank  - The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land prayed and called for world peace early Thursday, as he led the traditional Midnight Mass in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Speaking in his mother tongue Arabic before translating his own words into French, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, in a golden robe and purple skull cap, called for an end to "bloodshed and ill-treatment and humiliation."

"Tonight the sound from the Grotto is stronger than the sound of the canons and the guns," he said, referring to the Grotto of the Nativity, an underground cave beneath the basilica, believed to mark the exact site where Jesus was born.

"Peace is right for all people and it is the perfect solution for all conflicts and differences. War will not bring peace, prisons will not bring stability and walls, no matter how high they are, will not bring security," he said.

That remark was a clear reference to the security barrier which Israel has built between itself and the West Bank and which surrounds Bethlehem.

"God, we need the peace and peace means calm and we need the quiet," he said in his address, broadcast live on Palestinian television. "You are the only one who can give us this."

While thousands of Christian tourists and pilgrims from all over the world have flocked to Bethlehem throughout the day, only a few hundred invitees and ticket holders were able to attend the mass inside the Church of the Nativity, which has limited seating.

They included Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, visiting United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah Ben Zayed and other Palestinian officials and foreign diplomats. (dpa)