FAITH TAKES FLIGHT

    Religious leaders from many faiths release doves 
during an Oct.11 Ecumenical Ceremony marking the
70th birthday of the famous Christ statue on Rio de 
Janeiro's Corcovado mountain. The Brazilian ceremony
also remembered the victims of the Sept.11 terror 
attacks in the United States.

Pope John Paul II smiles past children on the altar as he presides over the midnight mass as part of Christmas celebrations in St. Peter's Basilica, December 24, 2001. 
The Pope led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas saying, hearts around the globe were anxious and distressed
by war and tension. (Vincenzo Pinto/Reuters) 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul (news - web sites), in his Christmas message to the world, said on Tuesday 
God's Name could never be used to condone violence and urged that children be saved from the cruel effects of adult conflicts.
 
 

Catholic nuns of the Missionaries of Charity hand food to
a poor woman in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, 
December 25, 2001. Missionaries of Charity, which was founded by the late Mother Teresa, offered free food to the poor in conjunction with the Christmas day. An estimated
20 percent of Calcutta's 12 million people live in dire 
poverty, many of them are homeless. REUTERS/Jayanta 
Shaw 

A woman sits amid the ruins of her house, damaged in
shelling from Pakistan, at Banglad in the Samba sector, December 25, 2001. Two Indian army soldiers were
killed in a fresh exchange of border fire between
India and Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Str 
 
 

A woman comforts her son during an exchange of fire 
between Indian and Pakistani forces, in the village of 
Banglad in Samba sector in Jammu and Kashmir state, December 24, 2001. Two Indian army soldiers were 
killed in a fresh exchange of border fire between India
and Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday. 
REUTERS/Str 
 

U.S. soldiers sing Christmas carols at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, December 25, 2001. U.S. and British soldiers
at the base celebrated Christmas lunch together with turkey and stuffing flown in from an American base in Germany. REUTERS/Erik de Castro 
 
 

      Nov. 30 2:54 PM ET A camel stares as it chews food 
in the camel market outside Cairo. Camel meat has become more popular after the spread of mad cow disease in 
Europe with an increase in the consumption of camel meat during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. About 300,000 camels are exported annually from Sudan and arrive at the Egyptian borders after a 40 day journey on foot. Once in Egypt, transport vehicles carry the camels and camel 
drivers to Cairo. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby

    Nov. 30 2:54 PM ET   Nebraska officials said last week
that four whitetail deer had tested positive for the chronic wasting disease in the northwest part of the state. They were confined on a commercial hunting ranch near a domestic elk herd with cases of chronic wasting.

   Wednesday December 12 07:13 AM EST 
    RELATIVE OF MAD-COW DISEASE FOUND IN KANSAS ELK
     By BILL GRAHAM - The Kansas City Star
     A pen raised elk has tested positive for chronic wasting disease in Kansas, prompting a quarantine and concern that
the mysterious ailment similar to mad-cow disease might 
spread to wild deer. Authorities are nervous, Fox said, 
because a disease with so many unknowns has the 
potential to evolve into something similar to the mad-cow outbreak that killed several persons in Europe and 
devastated Great Britain's beef industry. Also, the 
consumption of horses has been increasing in the U.K.
 

HOMECOMING:

    Christian aid workers Dayna Curry, left, and Heather Mercer smile during a news conference at the Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, Saturday, Dec. 8, 
2001. The pair, back at their home church for the first 
time since their release last month after more than 
100 days in Afghanistan jails, took time to speak to the
media about their experiences.
(AP Photo/LM Otero) 

HARVEST.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II makes her traditional 
Christmas broadcast to the Commonwealth, recorded 
on December 13, 2001 at Buckingham Palace in central
London. REUTERS/Fiona Hanson-POOL 

Queen Elizabeth Says Faith Helped Beat U.S. 'Horror'
Dec 25, 11:20 AM ET
Britain's Queen Elizabeth said in her Christmas message 
on Tuesday that the September 11 attacks on the United 
States had shown the need for faith and community in overcoming diversity. 

U.S. soldiers and Royal British marines (2nd-L and R) 
sit together as they celebrate Christmas at Bagram air 
base north of Kabul, in Afghanistan December 25,
2001. U.S. and British soldiers who guard the base 
celebrated Christmas lunch together with turkey and 
stuffing flown in from an American base in Germany. REUTERS/Erik de Castro
 
 

Poor Indians beg for food in front of the Missionaries of Charity, in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, December
25, 2001. Missionaries of Charity, which was founded 
by the late Mother Teresa, offered free food to the poor
in conjunction with Christmas day. An estimated 20 
percent of Calcutta's 12 million people live in dire
poverty, many of them are homeless. REUTERS/Jayanta
Shaw 

President Bush talks to members of the military during a
round of Christmas Eve phone calls from Camp David, 
Md., Monday, Dec. 24, 2001. (AP Photo Eric Draper)

U.S. and Royal British marines pray during Christmas celebrations at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, December
25, 2001. U.S. and British soldiers at the base celebrated Christmas lunch together. 
 REUTERS/Erik de Castro 

The chair of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is 
decorated with an Arab head dress, as it sits empty
during midnight mass in St. Catherine's Cathedral, 
adjoining the Church of the Nativity, believed to be 
the site of Jesus' birth in the West Bank town of 
Bethlehem on December 24, 2001. Israel's security 
cabinet barred Arafat's journey through Israeli-
controlled territory in the West Bank, because he 
was not acting "to dismantle Palestinian terror 
organizations." (Natalie Behring/Reuters) 
 
 

A wounded Israeli soldier is evacuated to a waiting 
ambulance after coming under gunfire reportedly from 
Jordan, near the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean 
Tuesday Dec. 25, 2001. One Israeli was killed and 
three injured and the army crossed the border fence 
with Jordan in pursuit of the gunmen. (AP Photo/Yaron
Kaminsky) 

SPECIAL REPORT:

      Heather Mercer, right, one of the eight foreign aid
workers freed in Afghanistan; Dayna Curry, left, 
was also freed. The aid workers had been arrested 
for preaching Christianity. (AP)