On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches Holy Jubilee Year

Pope Francis opened the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve on Tuesday, launching the Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations set to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome.

In a ceremony watched on screens by thousands of faithful outside in St Peter's Square, the Argentine pontiff went through the door followed by a procession, as the bells of the Vatican basilica rang out.

Pope Francis then presided over the Christmas Eve mass in St Peter's, where he turned once again to the victims of war.

The pope had drawn an angry response from Israel at the weekend for condemning the "cruelty" of Israel's strikes in Gaza that killed children. He was due to deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, to the city and the world, at midday on Wednesday.