Pope worries about pollution

VATICAN CITY, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI, spiritual leader of the world's Roman Catholics, used his Christmas mass address at the Vatican Tuesday to raise concern for the environment.

Benedict, speaking to thousands gathered at St. Peter's Basilica, wondered what early church official Gregory of Nyssaa, a bishop in what is now Turkey, would think about today's "ill-treated world," The New York Times reported.

"What would he say if he could see the state of the world today?" Benedict asked.

He then referred to 11th-century theologian Anselm of Canterbury, who the pope said had spoken "in an almost prophetic way" in describing "a vision of what we witness today as a polluted world whose future is at risk."

In his third Christmas Mass as pope, Benedict said people today do not having room in their hearts to hear the message of Jesus Christ's birth.

"Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such an urgent need for all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others -- for his neighbor, for the poor, for God," the pope said.

Benedict also helped unveil a new-style nativity scene. The move came after the Vatican decided to abandon the traditional stable-and-manger scenario for a more updated version of Jesus being born in Joseph's house, ANSA reported.