Three Christian churches have held a special joint service in Ljubljana to welcome the Peace Light from Bethlehem to Slovenia.
The Catholic, Protestant and Pentecost churches held mass together in Ljubljana's Church of Lady Day as the Bethlehem Light began its tour of Slovenia.
The Light has been brought to Slovenia by the Union of Slovenian Catholic Scouts (ZSKSS), the Scout Association of Slovenia (ZTS), the Association of Adult Catholic Scouts, and the Association of Slovenian Catholic Scouts from Italy.
The Light of Peace will travel around the whole country, including the northeastern and western Slovenian cities of Maribor and Nova Gorica, and even up to Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak.
It will also visit parliament house, the Slovenian president and the new Ljubljana Archbishop and Slovenian Metropolitan Alojz Uran.
The idea for the Peace Light from Bethlehem originated in the charity show "Light into Darkness", aired since 1986 by the Austrian public broadcaster ORF. Each year, a child from Austria collects the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
The light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed to delegations from across Europe who take it back to their own countries for use at ecumenical services.
Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, old people homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance.
Slovenian Catholic scouts first brought the Light to Slovenia in 1991 with the message "Peace Is Time Without War".
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