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VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Monday unveiled its nativity scene and lit the 25-meter (82-foot) Christmas tree atop it in St. Peter’s Square during a performance by a band, chorus and dancers in traditional costumes from Italy’s northernmost South Tyrol province.
The spruce tree came from Italy’s German-speaking majority autonomous province on the Austrian border, while the life-size nativity scene was designed by the Nocera Inferiore-Sarno diocese in the southern Campania province, incorporating architectural elements from the region.
Rosemary Palmer, Deputy Governor of South Tyrol, underlined that three language groups live together in peace in South Tyrol: Italian, German and Ladino.
“This is not something to be taken lightly, but it is a great gift and a great privilege,” he said.
The opening of the nativity scene and the tree lighting are part of Christmas season events that will also include a Christmas Eve Mass and the traditional Urbi et Orbi, or “To the City and the World” address by the Pope on Christmas Day. This holiday season will conclude the Jubilee Year opened by the late Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV did not attend the inauguration of the tree and crèche in the evening, but earlier in the day during a gathering with donors of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations he condemned the anti-Semitic violence behind the Hanukkah massacre in Sydney, Australia.