Panaji, Dec 24 (IANS): In his televised Christmas greeting, Archbishop of Goa Fr. Filipe Neri Ferrao on Monday expressed hope that the festival this year helps in creating a world where "justice, peace and understanding will conquer hatred and intolerance among human beings".

"May this Christmas find us more involved in doing precisely that; i.e. in creating a society where people of all hues and colours can join hands to make this world a place where justice, peace and understanding will conquer hatred and intolerance among human beings," Ferrao said in his greetings to the state of Goa, where Christians account for nearly one third of the state's population of 1.5 million.

The statement of the Archbishop, who is looked on by Christians as their religious and spiritual guide, comes at a time when protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens have broken out in several parts of the country.

Ferrao also bemoaned the commercialisation of the Christmas festival in his video message.

"It is Christmas time again and the general atmosphere is of joy and merry making. Whatever today's media and commercial concerns may have made of Christmas. This feast will always stand for a deeply spiritual reality..." he said.