Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in St. Peter's Square

Vatican City, 11 December 2013: This year’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony will be held in St. Peter’s square on Friday, December 13, informed the Press Office of the Embassy of Germany to the Holy See on Tuesday. Last week, the Vatican Governorate had announced that this year’s giant Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square near the nativity scene is a gift from the Bavarian town of Waldmunchen, Germany. The 25-meter fir tree weighing 7.2 tons arrived in the Vatican on last Thursday.

The German Embassy also informed that this is the first time, after 1984, the Christmas tree was gifted from Germany. According to the Press office, the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony will be attended by a large delegation from the region of Waldmünchen, led by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg. The Bishop of Pilsen from Czech Republic Bishop František Radkovský will also be present. The Bavarian State Government will be represented on the occasion by Minister for European Affairs and Regional Relations, Dr. Beate Merk, and the Federal Government will be represented by the Secretary to the Federal Minister for Defence Christian Schmidt.

As in the past years, the wood from the fir tree will be used to make toys and articles of daily use, after the Christmas season is over.

The first Christmas of Pope Francis in the Vatican will have a nativity scene from the southern Italian city of Naples, known the world over for its distinctive nativity art style. According to the Governorate of Vatican City, the nativity scene set up this year in the centre of St. Peter’s Square will be entitled, “Francis 1223 – Francis 2013”, recalling the first nativity scene set up 790 years ago by Italy’s popular patron St. Francis of Assisi, whose name and humble lifestyle Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio assumed on being elected Pope on March 13. Source: VR Sedoc