The Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev Patrick Kelly, along with world church leaders and heads of the Christian churches of Jerusalem, were greeted in Bethlehem on Friday by more than 800 Christian children from thirty parishes across Palestine.

After parading through the streets of Bethlehem, the children attended an ecumenical service at the Church of the Nativity where they heard sermons by local and visiting Christian leaders under the theme of Christ's words: "Allow the children and do not forbid them to come unto me; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to ones like these" (Matt 19. 12-15).

Archbishop Kelly, heading a delegation from the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, said his visit was part of an ongoing programme to support Christians in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, reminding the congregation that: "The first Christmas began here in extraordinary political circumstances under Roman occupation, yet the light shone through. As Pope Paul VI said: 'If you want peace, work for Justice'. This is why we are here today."

The Archbishop said his visit represented the third stage over the past month in the commitment by the Catholic community in England and Wales to the church in the Holy Land.

"The first stage was the ecumenical pilgrimage just before Christmas in which Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part," he said, adding that the Christmas Eve Mass at Liverpool Cathedral, filmed by the BBC, was dedicated to Bethlehem and formed the second stage.

Archbishop Kelly was accompanied by the recently-appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, William Kenney.

Bishop Kenney said: "Peace begins with children. They are the future. Today Bethlehem feels exactly as it was 2000 years ago.

"The city was under occupation and Christ was born here because of the occupation. This is a very important occasion because it reminds us that children are the same everywhere and they should be allowed to be the same."