Pope lights Vatican's
'eco-friendly' Christmas tree
Vatican City, Dec. 18 (dpa) - Pope Benedict XVI on Friday triggered a remote switch to light hundreds of golden bulbs on the Vatican's Christmas tree, a 30-metre high spruce from the forests of the Ardennes in Wallonia, Belgium.
The Christmas tree, adorned with gold and silver mirror-glass baubles and strands of tinsel, stood in the centre of St Peter's Square and is part of a tradition begun by Pope John Paul II in 27 years ago.
Benedict followed the ceremony from his Apostolic Palace residence overlooking the square.
A gift from Wallonia's regional government, the tree is around 100-years-old.
Its use has been described as "ecologically-friendly," because, according to the Vatican, it was felled as part of a programme to allow for the reintroduction and growth of other trees and plants that are more native to the Ardennes area.
Also, once Christmas celebrations have ended, wood from the tree, which measures some seven metres in diameter and weighs 14 tons, is to be used to make carved statues which will be sold, with the money going to the poor.
Since his 2005 election, Benedict has frequently urged governments to adopt measures aimed at safeguarding the environment, a call the pontiff repeated this week as world leaders are meeting at a United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Benedict's predecessor, the late Polish-born Pope John Paul II, in 1982 introduced the northern and eastern European custom of Christmas trees to the Vatican.
On Christmas Eve the Vatican, also in St Peter's Square, unveils its creche, or nativity scene, a greater-than-lifesize model depicting the birth of the baby Jesus, traditionally in a manger or cave.
Earlier Friday, the Holy Father met with a group of pilgrims who travelled to Rome from Belgium to present the Christmas tree formally, and to attend the lighting-up ceremony.
'The Lord visited and
ransomed the world'
Translated from
the 12/19/09 issue of
Christians are called on to show with their lives that 'the world has truly been visited and ransomed by the Lord".
Benedict XVI underscored this Friday noon sat the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace when he received a delegation from Belgium who had come to formally present the Christmas tree on St. Peter's Square which came from the Ardennes Forest near the resort town of Spa.
Here, translated, is what the Holy Father said in his remarks delivered in French, with a concluding paragraph in German:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you all who have come to offer the Christmas tree which, with the Nativity scene, will adorn St. Peter's Square during the Christmas celebrations.
I address a special greeting to the Minister for the Economy of the Walloon region and to Mons. Aloys Jousten, Bishop of Liege, and thank them both for the kind words they addressed to me.
My cordial greetings also go to His Excellency Franck De Coninck, ambassador of Belgium to the Holy See, and to the local political authorities who travelled here.
I greet the choristers and the representatives of the Walloon agency for exports and foreign investments, who initiated the project.
My thanks go to all who gave their collaboration for this gift but who cannot be here today. And I thank those who insured the delicate transport of this imposing tree.
In the forest, trees grow close to each other and each contributes to make the forest a place of shade, sometimes dark. Among the multitude, this majestic fir that you offer us today is lit up and covered with sparkling decorations which are like wonderful fruits.
Giving up its sombre robe for this dazzling splendour, it is transfigured, it becomes the bearer of a light which is not its own but which bears witness to the true Light that comes to the world.
The fate of this tree is like that of the shepherds: watching in the shadows of the night, behold them illuminated by the message of the angels. The fate of this tree is also comparable to ours, we who are called to bear good fruit in order to show that the world has truly been visited and ransomed by the Lord.
Set up beside the creche, this tree manifests in its own way the presence of that great mystery that came to the simple and poor town of Bethlehem. To the residents of Rome, to all the pilgrims, to all who will be at St. Peter's Square through television images seen around the world, it proclaims the coming of the Son of God.
Through this tree, your land and the Christian communities of your region greet the Infant God, he who came to make everything new and to call on all creatures, from the most humble to the most exalted, to enter into the mystery of Redemption and be associated with it.
I pray that the people of your region may remain faithful to the light of the faith. Held high for a long time now by the men who ventured into the valleys and the forests of the Ardennes, the light of the Gospel has been shared among your people and carried forth by the numerous missionaries who left their native land to spread it to the ends of the world.
May the Church in Belgium, particularly the diocese of Liege, continue to be a land that germinates the seed of the Kingdom that Christ came to earth to sow.
May the Lord bless you, your region adn all Belgium!
In German, he said:
We are very happy that a Belgian tree shines forth to the world from St. Peter's Square. I wish for everyone that the light from this tree may bring joy to your hearts and that you may celebrate Christmas with greater inner joy. God bless you all. A blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year!.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/12/2009 10:29]