Nativity scenes from Italy and Palestine will decorate Vatican

The Vatican’s famous Nativity scene and Christmas tree, which tourists from all over the world can admire at the end of every year in St. Peter’s Square, will be inaugurated on December 7, 2024, the governorate of the small state announced on November 19.

This year, they come respectively from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige, two neighboring regions in north-eastern Italy. The Nativity scene in Paul VI Hall — where the Pope presides over general audiences in winter — will come from Palestine.

This year, a maritime-themed Nativity scene will be set up in St. Peter’s Square at the foot of the obelisk. The work, designed by architect Andrea de Walderstein, was crafted by some 40 volunteers from Grado, a town on the Marano Lagoon at the northern tip of the Adriatic in the province of Gorizia.

It will depict scenes from everyday life in the early 20th century, centered around the local fishermen, the “casoneri,” and their “casoni,” typical reed dwellings. The setting of this crèche will reflect the local ecosystem, in particular the species of birds specific to the area, rendered using a 3D printer.

Two “batele,” typical flat-bottomed boats, will float on a stream behind a 100-meter dike. The crib will also be adorned with “briccole,” signs indicating navigable canals to the cities of Aquileia, Trieste, and Venice, and to the Marian shrine of the Crowned Virgin of Barbana. This shrine dates back to 582, and is located on one of the lagoon’s islets, of which there are more than a hundred.

Among the figures molded by hand from the mire of the lagoon, women will have a special place. In particular, a fisherwoman will lead the boat carrying the famous Three Wise Men.

The designers have also thought about preventing seagull invasions — very common in Rome — by installing two variable-frequency ultrasonic emitting posts to keep them away.

Alongside the reproduction of the Nativity will be a 95-foot-tall red fir more than a century old. The tree grew on the territory of Ledro, a commune of 5,000 inhabitants in the province of Trentino.

The selection of this specimen from Trentino-Alto Adige has provoked considerable controversy in recent weeks, as reported by the local press. Environmental associations have collected over 40,000 signatures protesting against its size. Also, they have announced their intention to block the road to the forestry service responsible for removing the tree.

The local authorities have assured the public that the tree was chosen on the basis of sustainability criteria and was “ecologically responsible,” as stated in the Vatican press release. The tree will be removed from a designated plot as part of a “natural replacement” of the region’s forests, in accordance with the criteria of the PEFC sustainable forest management certificate.

A further 39 smaller trees will also adorn various Vatican offices and buildings. The decorations have been made by Ledro and its sister cities in Germany and the Czech Republic.

The Paul VI Hall will be decorated with the “2024 Nativity of Bethlehem” designed by two artists from Bethlehem, Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi.

Its structure, nearly 10 feet tall, is made up of various Nativity scenes displayed on shelves and dominated by the Star of Bethlehem. Iron, olive wood, mother-of-pearl, stone, ceramic, glass, felt, and fabric come together in this work that combines traditional craftsmanship with contemporary elements.

The crèche is intended as a reminder that the Holy Land “is the daily scene of destruction, conflict, grief, and violence,” explains the Vatican.

Pope Francis will receive Italian and Palestinian delegations — including the ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Holy See — on the morning of December 7. It will be a busy day for the soon-to-be 88-year-old pontiff, who is also due to preside over a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in the afternoon.

The official ceremony to inaugurate the Nativity scene and light up the Christmas tree will take place at dusk, at 6.30 p.m.

Civil and ecclesiastical authorities of each delegation, the president of the Governorate Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, and the General Secretary, Sister Raffaella Petrini, will all be present.

According to tradition, on December 31, Pope Francis will visit the tree and Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in the late afternoon, after Vespers. The decorations will remain on display until the end of the Christmas season, the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, on January 12, 2025.

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