Did Pope Benedict XVI Know Jesus Wasn’t Born On Dec. 25?

In his homily, during the traditional Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI attacked the commercialization of Christmas urging the worshippers to "see through the superficial glitter of this season and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem," BBC said.

Wearing cream and gold vestments, the Pope proceeded slowly up the aisle of St Peter's on his mobile platform and urged the faithful to focus on the birth of JesusJesus saying, ‘this would help find true joy and true light.’

But in bringing to a focus Jesus' birth gave rise to a studious query; was Jesus born on December 25?

The Bible itself told us that December 25 was an unlikely date for the birth of Jesus. First, because PalestinePalestine was much too cold at that time of the year for anyone to travel around the city and shepherds could not have been in the fields in the winter time.

And then, allaboutjesuschrist.org said Angel Gabriel told Mary about Elizabeth’s condition and that she would bear a child too, who would be called Jesus, so she went to visit her, who was then in the first week of her 6th month, or the 4th week of December, 3 B.C.

If the scholars interpreted the 6 months to be in line with the Hebrew calendar and since Mary’s pregnancy commenced ‘a little before the 6th months around July,’ Jesus would be born somewhere around March-June.

Perhaps, because the Pope knew it too, that the early Christian Church did not celebrate the birth of Jesus and only until A.D. 440 did the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Christ, not based on any religious evidence but on a Pagan feast used as a celebration of the birthday of the sun god, that during his midnight homily, he did not mention the word ‘Christmas.’

His homily reads, "O Child of Bethlehem, in this New Year, we place in your hands this troubled Middle East and, above all, our youth full of legitimate aspirations, who are frustrated by the economic and political situation, and in search of a better future."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16328318

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/was-jesus-born-on-december-25-faq.htm