VATICAN (CNS): “The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope,” Pope Leo XIV said on December 15. “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,” Pope Leo said.
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 Paula Sáenz Soto, the Costa Rican artist who created the Nativity scene for the audience hall, titled “Nacimiento Gaudium.”
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.
The Nativity scene and the Christmas tree are signs of faith and hope
Pope Leo XIV
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’ 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.
“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,” he said to all those present.
The pope thanked those from a small town in the northern autonomous province of Bolzano who donated the 25-metre-foot-tall Norway spruce weighing 8.8 tons that was lit in a special ceremony when the large Nativity scene in the square was unveiled.
“For pilgrims from all over the world who will gather in St. Peter’s Square, the Nativity scene will remind them that God draws close to humanity, becomes one of us, entering our history in the smallness of a child,” the pope said.
“Before every Nativity scene, even those made in our homes, we relive that event and rediscover the need to seek moments of silence and prayer in our lives, to find ourselves and enter into communion with God,” he said.
For pilgrims from all over the world who will gather in St. Peter’s Square, the Nativity scene will remind them that God draws close to humanity, becomes one of us, entering our history in the smallness of a child
Pope Leo
For 2025, the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square came from a diocese south of Naples, not far from the Amalfi coast. Among the gifts being offered by the shepherds are agricultural products famous from the region, such as San Marzano and Corbarino tomatoes, walnuts, spring onions and artichokes.
Both the creche and the tree will be in St. Peter’s Square until 11 January 2026—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.
When Pope Leo met on December 13 with hundreds of people acting in a living Nativity scene at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, he said the creche “is an important sign: it reminds us that we are part of a wondrous adventure of salvation in which we are never alone.”
He said, “Spread this message and keep this tradition alive. They are a gift of light for our world, which so badly needs to be able to continue to hope.”
