The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope, Pope Leo XIV said yesterday. Source: OSV News.
“As we contemplate them in our homes, parishes and town squares, let us ask the Lord to renew in us the gift of peace and fraternity,” he said, calling for prayers for all those who suffer because of war and violence. “We must eliminate hatred from our hearts.”
The Pope was speaking during a meeting with the government representatives, artisans and donors responsible for providing the Christmas decorations in the Paul VI Audience Hall and in St Peter’s Square.
Pope Leo thanked the Costa Rican artist, Paula Sáenz Soto, who created the Nativity scene, titled Nacimiento Gaudium, for the audience hall. It features a pregnant Virgin Mary and 28,000 coloured ribbons, each representing a life saved from abortion thanks to the prayers and support provided to many mothers in difficulty by Catholic organisations, according to a press release by the Vatican City State’s governing office.
On Christmas Eve, the statue will be replaced with a different statue of Mary kneeling in adoration of the newborn Baby Jesus, and 400 ribbons will be placed in Jesus’s manger containing prayers and wishes written by young patients at the National Children’s Hospital in San José.
“I thank the Costa Rican artist who, together with the message of peace at Christmas, also wanted to launch an appeal for the protection of life from the moment of conception,” Pope Leo said.
“The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope,” he said to all those present. “Let the tenderness of the child Jesus illuminate our lives. Let God’s love, like the branches of an evergreen tree, remain fervent in us.”
The Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square for 2025 came from a diocese south of Naples, near the Amalfi coast.
Both the creche and the 25-metre-tall Norwegian spruce Christmas tree will be displayed in St Peter’s Square until January 11 — the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
The Vatican City State governing office said that the tree’s needles and green branches will be sent to an Austrian company to extract its essential oils, and the wood will be donated to a charity.
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Christmas creche, tree are signs of hope, Pope says (By Carol Glatz, CNS)
