President Jacob Zuma has issued a statement saying he has spent Christmas morning with former president Nelson Mandela, who is currently in hospital.
Thousands of people streamed into Bethlemhem to mark the birth of Christ, and the Latin Patriarch has expressed the need for peace in the Middle East.
Kabir Sokoto, the man accused of the attack on a Nigerian church that killed 37 people on Christmas Day, has escaped from police custody.
Hundreds of people have fled their homes in northeast Nigeria in fear, following deadly all-night gun battles between Islamists and security forces.
Jacob Zuma has condemned a series of bomb attacks in Nigeria and conveyed his condolences to his Nigerian counterpart, President Goodluck Jonathan.