Vatican nativity scene 2017
Photo: Crux Now Remember the true meaning of Christmas – Pope
Ahead of the Vatican Christmas tree lighting, Pope Francis expressed hope that the nativity scene in St Peter’s Square will serve as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about.
A nativity scene “is a genuine way of communicating the Gospel, in a world that sometimes seems to be afraid of remembering what Christmas really is, and blots out the Christian signs to only keep those of a banal, commercial imagination”, Pope Francis told an Italian delegation at the Vatican for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
This year’s Vatican Christmas tree comes from the northern Italian region of Vicenza, which was greatly damaged by storms in October 2018. The red spruce in St Peter’s Square is a little over 85 feet tall.
The Christmas tree lighting ceremony also revealed a life-size nativity scene carved out of wood with tree trunks from Vicenza placed in the background in memory of the storm.
“The wooden trunks, coming from the areas hit by the storms, which form the backdrop to the landscape, underline the precariousness in which the Holy Family was found on that night in Bethlehem,” Pope Francis said.
Pontiff ‘scandalise’ by anti-migrant rhetoric in Europe
Pope Francis told Jesuits in Thailand he was “scandalised” by some of the anti-migrant rhetoric he hears in Europe, and he is convinced people are being manipulated into thinking the only way they can preserve their lifestyles is by building walls.
“The phenomenon of migration is compounded by war, hunger and a ‘defensive mindset’, which makes us think only from a state of fear and that by reinforcing borders we can defend ourselves,” Pope Francis said on November 22 when he met 33 Jesuits in Thailand.
The Jesuit magazine, La Civilta Cattolica, published a transcript of the Pope’s responses to questions the Jesuits asked Francis during the meeting in Tha Kham, Thailand.
Pope Francis noted that the Bible and millennia of Christian teaching have encouraged welcoming the stranger. “But there are also many little customs and traditions of hospitality, such as leaving an empty chair on a festive day in case an unexpected guest arrives.”
“If the Church is a field hospital,” he told the Jesuits, “this is one of the camps where most of the injured are found.”
However, recalling the visit to Thailand in 1981 of Jesuit Fr Pedro Arrupe, then superior general of the order, Pope Francis said the work with refugees and any other social apostolate must be supported by prayer.
Vatican calls on UN to create ‘human fraternity’ day
Members of a Vatican special committee met with the Secretary General of the United Nations on last week to deliver a petition on human fraternity co-authored by Pope Francis and the Sunni Islamic Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb.
The committee was formed in August, under the auspicies of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The message from the two religious leaders requested that February 4 be declared the ‘World Day of Human Fraternity’, and asked the United Nations, along with the Holy See and the Al-Azhar Mosque, to create a ‘World Summit On Human Fraternity’.
According to a statement released by the Pontifical Council on December 5, Dr Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, “expressed his appreciation and availability for the initiative”, and said that he believed it was important to work “at the service of all humanity”.