VATICAN - Pope Francis on Sunday lamented that Jesus' message of peace was being drowned out by the "futile logic of war" in the very land where he was born, as the pontiff led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas.

Francis, celebrating the 11th Christmas of his pontificate, presided at a solemn Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and spoke of the conflict in the Holy Land in his homily.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world," Francis said.

The Pope began his homily with how Jesus was born.

“While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness.”

“None of the powerful take notice of him. Only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.”

These situations, the Pope said, manifests "the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement.”

Pope Francis said the real message of Christmas is peace and love, urging people not to be obsessed with worldly success and the "idolatry of consumerism".

"Tonight, love changes history," he said.

At noon (1100gmt) on Monday, Francis will deliver his Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message and blessing. With a report by Lyza Aquino, ABS-CBN News