Pope’s Christmas card

December 17, 2012 - Veritas de terra orta est! which is the Latin for “Truth shall spring out of the earth”, is the theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s Christmas card for this year. The Pope’s hand-written words from Psalm 85 along with the reproduction of “The Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds” by Leandro Bassano (1557-1622), features in the greeting card which is being distributed to the personnel of the Roman Curia, Vatican employees and all the faithful present at the audiences and celebrations these days. Bassano’s Nativity scene painting is taken from the Pope’s private apartment in the Vatican. The tradition of printing the Pope’s greeting cards for Christmas, Easter and other solemnities with hand-written phrases taken from Scripture, the Church Fathers or the lectionary with a depiction of the theme of the liturgical feast, was begun by Paul VI in 1963.