Ordinary Catholics and church social action groups pull out all the stops to help the needy overcome Typhoon Rai
UCA News Joseph Peter Calleja Manila | January 14, 2022
Residents carry bottled water given as aid from a non-governmental organisation in Burgos town, Siargao island, on Jan. 5, weeks after Typhoon Rai devastated the island. (Photo: AFP)
Eighty-eight-year-old Anastasia Baroro begged the media to send out her short message.
“Please, air this so my children can watch it,” she told a reporter covering the aftermath of Typhoon Rai in Cebu in the central Philippines.
He expected to hear her lament how the typhoon had turned her bamboo hut into pieces, destroying the small store that sustained her.
Surprisingly, Anastasia began her statement with these words, “My children, I thank God because I am still alive. Do not worry about me because I am still here. I will see you soon.”
Instead of cursing the world, the old woman felt heaven had given her another chance to live despite her home collapsing around her. Her only wish was to see her daughter who lives in another town.
When Typhoon Rai struck the Philippines on Dec. 16 last year, it destroyed roads, bridges and infrastructure amounting to a conservative estimate of 28 billion pesos (US$560 million).
Even if they have money, there’s nothing to buy because stores were closed or destroyed
It also killed 407 people, injured more than 1,140 and wiped out thousands of homes on the islands of Cebu, Siargao, Surigao and elsewhere, leaving residents with no electricity or potable water.
The Catholic Church’s social arm Caritas and the Jesuit-run Tanging Yaman Foundation were among the first organizations to make their presence felt among people on the ground.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, meanwhile, appealed for help for typhoon victims.
In a Dec. 19 letter, Caritas chief Bishop Kolin Bagaforo called on all dioceses in the Philippines to support victims not only in terms of material goods but through prayer.
The bishops declared Dec. 25 and 26 as national days of prayer for families and communities affected by the mega storm, one of the most powerful to hit the country.
There were second collections in parishes across the country for dioceses worst hit by the typhoon.
Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese, the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Prinsesa in Palawan, and Dumaguete Diocese were among the beneficiaries of Caritas’ attempt to cushion the storm’s blow.
Caritas’ executive secretary Father Antonio Labiao told the press in December that people needed shelter materials, food, water and medicines urgently.
Pope Francis meets with diplomats accredited to the Holy See at the Vatican’s Hall of Blessings. Vatican Media.
CNA Staff Vatican City | Jan 10, 2022
Pope Francis lamented “cancel culture” in an address to diplomats at the Vatican on Monday.
Delivering his annual “state of the world” address on Jan. 10, the pope said that international organizations were increasingly pursuing “divisive” agendas at odds with the longstanding values of many countries.
“Not infrequently, the center of interest has shifted to matters that by their divisive nature do not strictly belong to the aims of the organization,” he said.
“As a result, agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many peoples.”
“As I have stated on other occasions, I consider this a form of ideological colonization, one that leaves no room for freedom of expression and is now taking the form of the ‘cancel culture’ invading many circles and public institutions.”
While the pope delivered his address in Italian, he said the phrase “cancel culture” in English.
Speaking in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of Blessings, the pope told representatives of the 183 states that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See that the “mindset” currently prevailing in international institutions ended up “canceling all sense of identity” while claiming to defend diversity.
He said: “A kind of dangerous ‘one-track thinking’ is taking shape, one constrained to deny history or, worse yet, to rewrite it in terms of present-day categories, whereas any historical situation must be interpreted in accordance with a hermeneutics of that particular time, not that of today.”
He went on: “Multilateral diplomacy is thus called to be truly inclusive, not canceling but cherishing the differences and sensibilities that have historically marked various peoples.”
“In this way, it will regain credibility and effectiveness in facing the challenges to come, which will require humanity to join together as one great family that, starting from different viewpoints, should prove capable of finding common solutions for the good of all.”
The pope did not offer any examples of the mindset he was deploring. But last month, he criticized a withdrawn document discouraging staff at the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, from using the word “Christmas.”
“The European Union must take in hand the ideals of the founding fathers, which were ideals of unity, of greatness, and be careful not to take the path of ideological colonization,” the pope told reporters as he flew home from Greece in December.
During the same in-flight press conference, he said it was vital to interpret a landmark report on abuse in the French Catholic Church over the past 70 years “with the hermeneutic of the time and not with ours.”
In his wide-ranging address, which lasted around 40 minutes, the pope reviewed his diplomatic activities in 2021 and touched on major global themes such as the coronavirus pandemic, immigration, climate change, and nuclear arms.
The live-streamed event in the gilded Hall of Blessings began with an address to Pope Francis by George Poulides, Cyprus’ ambassador to the Holy See and dean of the diplomatic corps.
“Thank you, Holy Father, for your untiring work, which is a source of hope for many peoples, for many men and women,” he said.
Speaking beneath a large tapestry depicting the nativity of Christ, the pope strongly endorsed COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
“Sadly, we are finding increasingly that we live in a world of strong ideological divides,” he said. “Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts.”
“Every ideological statement severs the bond of human reason with the objective reality of things. The pandemic, on the other hand, urges us to adopt a sort of ‘reality therapy’ that makes us confront the problem head-on and adopt suitable remedies to resolve it.”
“Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.”
The pope criticized what he called a “lack of resolute decision-making and clear communication” by the authorities amid the pandemic, which he said had created “a ‘social relativism’ detrimental to harmony and unity.”
He told the diplomats, who wore formal uniforms and face coverings, that he hoped to see renewed efforts so that “the entire world population can have equal access to essential medical care and vaccines.”
After recalling his 2021 trips to Iraq, Hungary, and Slovakia, the pope highlighted his meeting with migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos on Dec. 5.
“I am aware of the difficulties that some states encounter in the face of a large influx of people. No one can be asked to do what is impossible for them, yet there is a clear difference between accepting, albeit in a limited way, and rejecting completely,” he said.
He added that international indifference made migrants easy prey for traffickers.
“Sadly, we must also note that migrants are themselves often turned into a weapon of political blackmail, becoming a sort of ‘bargaining commodity’ that deprives them of their dignity,” he said.
The pope did not mention any countries by name, but the European Union recently accused Belarus of trying to help thousands of mainly Middle Eastern migrants to enter the EU via the country’s border with Poland.
The 85-year-old pontiff also spoke about what he called “massive migration movements” in the Americas, concentrated on the border between Mexico and the United States.
“Many of those migrants are Haitians fleeing the tragedies that have struck their country in recent years,” he noted, underlining the need for international cooperation on migration.
Turning to the environment, the pope expressed some disappointment at the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland.
“At the recent COP26 in Glasgow, several steps were made in the right direction, even though they were rather weak in light of the gravity of the problem to be faced,” he said.
“The road to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement is complex and appears to be long, while the time at our disposal is shorter and shorter.”
“Much still remains to be done, and so 2022 will be another fundamental year for verifying to what extent and in what ways the decisions taken in Glasgow can and should be further consolidated in view of COP27, planned for Egypt next November.”
The pope then gave a brief overview of the world’s hotspots, beginning with Syria, where he said that the general population should not be penalized by sanctions as poverty stalks the country after more than 10 years of war.
He described the conflict in Yemen, which has claimed an estimated 377,000 lives since 2014, as “a human tragedy that has gone on for years, silently, far from the spotlight of the media and with a certain indifference on the part of the international community.”
“In the past year, no steps forward were made in the peace process between Israel and Palestine,” he noted, calling for direct talks.
Rome, June 22-26, 2022 Catechesis No. 7 May I, thank you, pardon me
Indeed, these expressions open up the way to living well in your family, to living in peace. They are simple expressions, but not so simple to put into practice! They hold much power: the power to keep home life intact even when tested with a thousand problems. But if they are absent, little holes can start to crack open and the whole thing may even collapse. 1
As we can see from experience, the life of every family is not characterized only by wonderful and enlightening moments. Often, in fact, the difficulties and trials of life and history make the experiences of families dark and difficult. Sometimes it is because they struggle to live together, sometimes because their relationships are not always easy and carefree, sometimes because the couple’s relationship goes through moments of disappointment and frustration and the relationship between the spouses is marked by «a thousand forms of abuse and subjugation, misleading seduction and humiliating ignorance, even the most dramatic and violent kind»2.
In order to obtain the fullness of Love it is necessary to follow a slow and gradual path, which is most often tiring and demanding, and which requires a process of growth in which each day one must humbly and perseveringly accept the Grace of Christ. This Grace, which husband and wife already invoke on the day of their Matrimony as an essential element of their union, is the principal support of spouses. It is only with Christ’s help that one can in fact come to love fully, to renounce to continual demands, to reject the ambition of controlling every aspect of reality, to leave aside the desire to dominate the lives of others. Only He has the power to “change the hearts of human beings and render man and woman capable of loving one another as Christ has loved us” (cf. FC 13). In fact, it is in the nature of Love (Christ) to always go beyond oneself, to love the other person with all his or her limits and respect his or her freedom.
If this is fundamental in every human relationship, it becomes even more so in the family: none of us alone are enough for ourselves. In fact, we are in such a condition of fragility that we constantly need to be supported in the fight against our own ego, which struggles to be selfgiving and recognize its very limits.
By embracing these three words – may I, thank you, pardon me – each member of the family is in a position to recognize his or her own limits. Acknowledging one’s own weakness leads each of us to not dominate over the other, rather to be respectful and not claim possession over him or her.
May I, thank you and pardon me are three very simple words, that guide us in taking very concrete steps along the path of holiness and in growing in love. Besides, they were words typical of the style of Jesus Christ, who asks permission to enter3, who continually thanks the Father, who teaches us to pray, saying: «forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us» (Mt 6:10).
Accepting that we alone are not enough for ourselves and leaving a place for others is the way to live not only love in the family, but the experience of faith as well.
Besides, every human being has been wounded by love during their life. Even in the family it can occur that words, actions or omissions have deeply mortified love.
Generally speaking, such an attitude or behavior that is created between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, between uncles and aunts, between grandparents and grandchildren, instead of expressing love, can harm or even destroy it.
It must also be noted that there are some wounds, such as illness and grief that are beyond our control, leaving us powerless and often deeply troubled.
These are experiences that sometimes seem to contradict God’s promises and to deny His infinite and eternal Love. However, when lived in faith and openness to others, they are just as many opportunities for feeling loved and cared for by God and by others and being the object of their attention.
These are often difficult and painful moments, but they also turn out to be favorable privileged periods in which the Lord comes to visit us, because “the love of Jesus was in giving health, doing good: this always takes priority!” 4.
Each of these hard, difficult and painful experiences become the concrete example of our path to holiness; opportunities that do not prevent us from loving anyhow and from remaining in His love.
However, without presumptions: the vulnerability and hardship of existence are embedded in life and do not allow us to move easily and quickly towards magical or unrealistic solutions. We need to be helped and to help.
In the midst of this hardship, the Holy Spirit accompanies us and does so many times thanks to our family members, our friends, and the people who show us their love: the endurance of love is the beginning of hope and makes us desire that the very Lord manifest Himself as the Love we need most.
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away”.
Song 8:6-7
The faith and charity of the Gospel are not life guarantees, nor do they preserve us from the suffering and pain that characterize human existence. They do not ensure our immunity from evil and hardship. Rather, they are a light that brightens our lives in moments of darkness and affliction. Therefore, even the most painful and sad situations, lived in unison with Jesus Christ, can become opportunities for cultivating relationships among each other, growing in our faith in God and in the certainty that every event in our lives holds precious treasures of Grace.
1 POPE FRANCIS, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 13 May 2015. 2 POPE FRANCIS, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 22 April 2015. 3 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me”. Cf. Rv 3:20. 4 POPE FRANCIS, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 10 June 2015.
Cardinal Jose Advincula celebrates Mass on the Feast of the Black Nazarane at the Quiapo Church in Manila on Sunday, Jan. 9. Photo from Quiapo Church
By CBCP News January 9, 2022
Cardinal Jose Advincula celebrated his first Feast of the Black Nazarene Mass as Manila archbishop on Sunday in an almost empty Quiapo Church, urging the devotees “to help each other live with dignity” in the face of crisis.
For the first time in recent memory, public Masses inside the minor basilica were banned for the feast amidst the sharp spike in coronavirus cases.
Instead, more than a dozen Masses were held in the church throughout the day and were livestreamed through the archdiocese’s different online platforms.
In his homily to devotees following the Mass on television and online, he exhorted them to rise from the challenges, turn away from sin and live as God’s children.
“Let us reach out to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are struggling today,” Advincula said in Filipino.
According to him, God does not want the people’s dignity to be trampled on. “He does not want us to be destroyed by sin and wickedness,” he said.
“Let us also stand to lead one another to holiness and prosperity in life,” Advincula said.
This year’s celebration also marked the second time after last year that the famous procession of the revered image of the Black Nazarene was called off since World War II.
The cardinal assured the devotees who were saddened by the restrictions that the Black Nazarene is still with them.
“Although not all of us can visit here in Quiapo, the Señor himself visits our families and homes,” Advincula said.
“Even if we can’t get close to his image, He is the one who is approaching us now. He enters our hearts and strengthens our hope. He intercedes with us and binds us in love,” he said.
The Manila archbishop also assured the millions of devotees that Jesus knows what they are going through, especially during this pandemic.
“He feels for us and he sympathizes with us,” he added.
New legislation carries up to 12 years in prison for those who flout the law
UCANews | Joseph Peter Calleja Manila | January 07, 2022
A young actress takes part in a campaign by Amnesty International to denounce child marriage in October 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo: AFP)
The Philippines has enacted a new law banning child marriage and cohabitation with minors.
It is hoped the bill, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Jan. 6, will end practices that see one in six Filipino girls married before they turn 18.
Children’s rights advocates welcomed the new law, saying it marked a major advancement in protecting young girls.
“This is a major victory in our campaign to end child marriage in the Philippines. This law will help protect children, especially young girls, and hopefully change the trajectory of their lives,” the law’s author, lawmaker Bernadette Herrera, told The Inquirer newspaper on Jan. 6.
The new law not only criminalizes marrying someone under 18 years old but also outlaws cohabitating with a minor as husband and wife and punishes those who facilitate such unions.
It carries a jail term up to 12 years and a fine of at least 40,000 pesos (US$800).
Thus, the law views that child marriage as a practice is a form of child abuse because it violates and degrades the dignity of our children
The lifting of the ban on copper, gold, silver, and complex ores open-pit mining is another blow against an already gasping state of our Philippine environment. To this government, and particularly the DENR, the many incidents of landslides and flooding wrought by Typhoon Odette, seem not enough reminder that a big shift in policies and development projects would give due protection to the environment is imperative now, more than ever.
For PMPI, the lifting of the ban signals yet another flip-flopping of the DENR, giving high priority to the opening-up of mining operations for income or revenues and on the one hand public propaganda by President Duterte of ensuring the protection of the environment against mining industries which destroys and earn big bucks from it. The DENR as a government agency’s task is not only to manage the use of our natural resources but also its conservation and protection. But clearly, the lifting of the ban shows the biased of DENR to favor the destruction of watersheds, forests, culture, and biodiversity – under a skewed and vague assumption that these are but necessary trade-offs for a better future.
PMPI and our Sites of Struggles (SoS), partner communities struggling against mining operations across the archipelago strongly believe that mining is not and can never be a strategic vehicle towards economic recovery. The mining sector’s historical performance in terms of revenue and job generation was never significant – an average of 205,000 jobs per year and less than 2% contribution of the total national revenue (Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Bureau of Internal Revenue data).
Our partner communities affected by mining operations are living testimonies of the lies peddled by this government and the mining corporations on the so called “Sustainable Mining” and “Globally accepted method” on mining operations. The islands of Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar and Rapu-Rapu in Albay bear the scars of mining corporations’ bad practices and the DENR’s incapacity to enforce existing environmental safety standards and policies. Both islands have yet to be rehabilitated to this day.
Further, PMPI does not share the glossy assumption of DENR and MGB that stiffer monitoring and stricter implementation of environmental safety standards will be imposed as part of the new DAO 2021-14. DENR. From our communities’ experience, MGB does not have the capacity to monitor all fifty (50) active mining operations in the country, more so, additional mining operations once the lifting of the moratorium on Open-pit mining takes effect.
Threats to indigenous peoples’ ancestral domains, lowland communities, irrigators, fishers, and farmers in the four provinces of South Cotabato continue. The conglomerate Indophil and Sagittarius Mining Corporation is aggressively pushing to dismantle the Environmental Code of the province to finally start the biggest copper and gold mining in Asia. But incidentally, the projected trade-offs are the destruction of the Marbel-Buluan Watershed, the irrigation systems of the productive, jobs and revenue-generating agriculture of the Province of South Cotabato.
God is love. The God who is love wanted to be loved. This God wanted to be loved with a human love, with the love of a mother. This God wanted a woman to receive God-Love into her womb, to bring God-Love into this world as a child, to nourish the human God-Love, to cuddle the human God-Love, to teach the human God-Love to talk, to walk, to work. The human God-Love put complete confidence in her. That is why she was preserved from everything that could make her less loving and less lovable, from the very beginning of her exist-ence.
God-love had a tender affection for Mary, the Mother of God-love. ‘Hail Mary, most graceful, most beautiful, blessed are you among women’.
We could look at the great panorama of history: it is a fresco of salvation. It goes from creation to fullness. It goes even further back than creation since we were chosen in Christ be-fore the creation of the world. Chosen in Christ to be human love-people. We can look forward beyond even the fullness of creation, and we will still, in Christ, be human love-people.
At the beginning of creation, there is a man and a woman. We call them Adam and Eve. We read how they compromised the image of God-love by what they did. What they did was not love. In the fullness of time, there is again a woman and a man. We call them Mary and Jesus. They have restored the image of God-love by what they did. What they did was love. The book of Revelation says that in the fullness of time there will be once again a woman and her son, and the woman will be crowned with twelve stars and her son will reign on the throne of love forever.
There are parallels and contrasts between the beginning and the end; between the serpent who deceives and the angel who has a message of salvation; between malediction and benediction; between fear and self-justification, and trust and abandonment.
It is all a hymn to the God-love. It is all a hymn to humanity and what it will be. God-love created humans to be love-people.
But the peculiar beauty of their created being, of their way of being love-people, is their fragility. They are not gods. They are limited and vulnerable. As such they are open to the forc-es of evil and nothingness. Their existence, and their quality as love-people, seems compromised. They keep on seeming to lose the battle. But the Living Woman and the loving Mother of all who live remains faithful to the God-love and does not let the forces of death and nothingness win out. There is too much life in her for that. And too much love.
She is the Mother of Life. She is the mother of Life that is stronger than death. She is fully Alive. She makes all living things fully Alive. The feast we celebrate today is the feast of the Mother of all the living. It is the feast of humanity, come alive. In another year of life.
After the annunciation scene, in Luke’s words, ‘the angel left her’. Angels don’t understand these things, they don’t have mothers. Mary remains alone with her secret. But not for long. She must share it, and her life, and her love, with her Son and with us.
‘Holy Mary, Mother of God-love, pray for us all, now, and at the hour when your Life is stronger than death for each of us. Amen.’
Our CBCP General Secretariat office just got the text below from Bishop Antonieto Cabajog of Surigao. (The all-caps text could only indicate a sense of urgency and a cry for help for the people of Surigao.)
Perhaps instead of spending a lot on lavish Christmas parties and exchange gifts, we can put together whatever we can and contribute it to relief operations.
His Excellency Pablo Virgilio David Bishop of Kalookan CBCP President
Aerial picture shows damage caused by Super Typhoon Rai after the storm crossed over Surigao City in Surigao del Norte province of Philippines.–AFP
Typhoon Odette manifested its super- strength starting a few minutes past one o’clock in the afternoon of December 16, 2o21. It gradually unleashed more strength and peaked between 3:00-4:00 p.m. Blinding torrential rains and howling winds no man could take standing up hammered us for more than three hours.
Not only were trees uprooted and rooftops ripped from homes battered like doll-houses, electric power and all forms of communication were cut off literally isolating us from the rest of the world. It was only in the afternoon of Dec. 18 were we able to clear fallen trees and debris around the bishop’s house and allowing cautious opportunity to move around areas of the city cleared enough of fallen trees, landslides, fallen electric posts, G.I. sheets crumpled like papers, wires and other debris. The cathedral and rectory suffered sizeable damaged. Two parish churches in the city suffered broken glasses, blown roofings and flooding.
Never in my entire life have I encountered such typhoon to say “super” is an understatement. Throughout the ordeal we had the blessed sacrament exposed and the statue of Our Lady of Fatima on one side.
As of this writing communications from all parishes are yet to be received. This report is written on my way to Butuan City to post this report.
Please continue to pray for the Diocese of Surigao.
Mainland parishes seem to have suffered lesser damage but Surigao City. Aside from the city and surrounding areas Siargao Island and Dinagat province are worst hit with unofficial reports of many casualties.
Food and water are priority needs in badly hit areas. Inspite of all these the strong faith of the people stands out as their pillar of comfort and support.
We thank all of you for your prayers as we move on in synodality and celebrate Christmas in this “new normal”. “Cum Infirmor Potens Sum.”
+Antonieto D. Cabajog, D.D. Bishop of Surigao Dec. 20, 2021
In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers assist residents over floodwaters caused by Typhoon Odette as they are evacuated to higher ground in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (ONE News)
December 17, 2021
To ALL DIOCESAN COUNCILS PRESIDENTS AND NATIONAL LAY LEADERS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the light of the sudden and unexpected intensification of Typhoon Odette and its massive impact on the towns and cities along its path, calls for immediate disaster response are being made. The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas is appealing to our member organizations in the NCR and those nearby areas to initiate among their members, friends and relatives an emergency appeal for goods-in-kind which can be brought straight to the Disaster Response Center of the Office of the Vice President, which has launched an organized transportation and distribution plan with the AFP and other responsive government agencies. (Please watch the announcement below)
For those in other Dioceses who can also help, please do the same and coordinate with your Diocesan Social Action Centers. They might have similar plans to respond to this.
Let us also pray for the safety and recovery of our countrymen from this disaster and ask the Lord to continue to put peace and joy in their hearts during the Christmas season.
Please, we ask you to exert the effort to respond swiftly to this national emergency.
Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24, 2020. | Vatican Media.
By CNA Staff
Greccio, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 04:00 am
In 2019, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on the meaning and importance of the Christmas nativity scene. He signed the document, Admirabile signum (“Enchanting image”), on Dec. 1 that year, at the Shrine of the Nativity in Greccio, a hilltown in the Italian region of Lazio.
The choice of Greccio was significant, because it was there in 1223 that St. Francis of Assisi created history’s first nativity scene.
In the apostolic letter, widely regarded as one of the most moving documents of Francis’ pontificate, the pope sets out “to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas.”
Here are 10 things that Pope Francis wants us to learn from the nativity scene, drawn from Admirabile signum.
1. The nativity scene is like a living Gospel. The depiction of Jesus’ birth is “a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God,” the pope writes. The nativity scene invites everyone who contemplates it “on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.”
The Vatican Nativity scene. Agencia Andina
2. The custom is rooted in the Bible. The pope underlines that the nativity scene rises from “the pages of sacred Scripture.” St. Luke’s Gospel says that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (2:7). The manger is the focus of nativity scenes. Indeed, the Italian word for nativity scene is “presepe,” from the Latin word “praesepium,” meaning “manger.”
Pope Francis visits the site of the first nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, on Jan. 4, 2015. Vatican Media.
3. The tradition was born in an unassuming Italian town. St. Francis of Assisi stopped in Greccio in November 1223, probably on his way back from Rome after receiving papal approval for the Rule of his religious order. Fifteen days before Christmas, he asked a local man named John to help him “bring to life the memory of that babe born in Bethlehem, to see as much as possible with my own bodily eyes the discomfort of his infant needs, how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and an ass standing by, he was laid upon a bed of hay.” On Christmas Day, St. Francis was joined by his friars and people from the surrounding area before a manger full of hay, watched over an ox and a donkey.
