Inauguration and lighting of Nativity scene and Christmas tree in Saint Peter’s Square

Like the shepherds in Greccio, the spectators are the “main characters of the Nativity scene”. This is why “we are those shepherds who set out on a journey and we are the shepherds who are called to proclaim Jesus to our brothers and sisters”, said Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, on Saturday afternoon, 9 December, at the inauguration of the Nativity scene — donated from the Valle Santa in Rieti — and the lighting of the Christmas tree in Saint Peter’s Square.

To mark 800 years since the first Nativity display in Greccio, and the papal approval of the Franciscan Rule , the Cardinal highlighted that Saint Francis’ presence calls one to reflect “on care for our common home, just as the majestic fir tree, adorned with 5,000 edelweiss flowers cultivated on the plains, is a witness to respect for the environment”. The Cardinal also noted that after the Christmas festivities the wood from the tree will be used to make toys to be donated to children.

Immediately after the inauguration ceremony, some 150 people experiencing poverty gathered for a dinner organized by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and Saint Peter’s parish, with the Governorate’s support. The initiative, which took place under Bernini’s colonnade, is part of the “Actions of a social nature of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican in preparation for the Jubilee”.