The Vatican will review security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years, this time managing to knock him down before being pulled away by guards, the Vatican spokesman said.

Benedict, 82, wasn't hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square. While a bit unsteady at first, he also delivered a short speech about the world's trouble spots without problem.

The incident in St. Peter's Basilica raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a failed bid to get to the pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweat shirt.

Meanwhile, thousands of pilgrims from around the world descended on the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem for the most upbeat Christmas celebrations the Palestinian town has seen in years.

Hundreds of worshippers packed St. Catherine's Church on Manger Square for morning Mass. Most were local Palestinian Christians, and the Mass was celebrated in Arabic.

Some 47,000 Filipinos who fled their homes in anticipation of the eruption of the Mayon volcano shared rations of noodles, fried fish and fruit to celebrate Christmas in evacuation centers. Children opened donated presents and clowns entertained the crowds, as the government tried to keep the evacuees from slipping back to their homes.

In officially atheist China, Christmas is a kind of Valentine's Day for many _ a chance to shop and socialize. But members of the country's state-registered churches also gathered for holiday services on one of Beijing's coldest nights in a decade.

More than 1,000 people attended Christmas Eve Mass at one church in western Beijing, while another 1,000 or so stood outside. Christmas morning was 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

"This is a traditional Western festival, and I learned through the Internet and other sources that people in the West come to church to pray for God to bless their families," said Wang Dongyan, one of those attending the Xuanwu Catholic church. "I came here to pray for greater progress in my career and life in the coming year."

In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to the country's troops fighting in Afghanistan in her annual Christmas speech broadcast Friday, praising their work while expressing her sadness at the casualties. The queen's message came at the end of a year in which 106 British soldiers were killed in the troubled Central Asian country. 2009 has been the bloodiest year for the British military since the war started nine years ago.