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🌲 St. Peter's Square Welcomes the Vatican Christmas Tree
The annual custom, which started in 1982, sees a magnificent 25-meter-tall tree installed in St. Peter's Square. This year's tree, a 25-meter-tall red fir, was donated from the Val d’Ultimo area within the province of Bolzano in the north of Italy. The donation was made by the administrative bodies of Lagundo and Val d’Ultimo.
The choice of the tree by the forest guard service following a detailed assessment.
As per custom, alongside the main fir, 40 smaller trees will also be delivered to the Vatican for placement in various buildings and official spaces of the Holy See. The preference for more established trees aligns with a routine cycle of natural forest regeneration.
Regarding this process, Bishop Ivo Muser of Bolzano-Bressanone clarified:
"The felling of the tree is not an act of disrespect but the result of careful forest management, where tree removal is part of an active care strategy that ensures the health of the forest and control its growth."
In the South Tyrol area, the location of the two towns, a green philosophy prevails. Reforestation is considered a fundamental practice. The bishop noted it is:
"an established practice and a cornerstone of sustainable forest management, where for every tree felled, new ones are planted, ensuring healthy and resilient forests for future generations."
Further reflecting this commitment to ecological responsibility, the tree will be repurposed after the Christmas festivities. The Austrian company Wilder Naturprodukte is slated to extract essential oils from the branches. The rest of the wood will be gifted to a charitable organization for reuse.
The tradition of the Vatican Christmas tree was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in 1982 after he accepted a Christmas tree carried all the way to Rome by a Polish farmer. Since then, offering the Christmas Tree to the Pope has become a distinction, and every year the Vatican accepts a donated tree from a different European territory or nation.
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