Residents of the town of Val di Ledro in northern Italy protested on Saturday night against the cutting down of a tree that is to become a Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Photo: SITA/AP, Gregory Borgia
St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican
Residents of the city located in the north of Italy near Lake Garda formed a living chain at night around the 200-year-old tree, some holding torches.
“This habit must be overcome for the good of the environment. Therefore, we ask His Holiness from the bottom of our hearts to pardon our Green Giant,” the residents of the city said in a statement.
The petition to save the tree received more than 50,000 signatures on the petition portal Change.org. The tradition of building a Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican was established in 1982 during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
The very first Christmas tree came from Italy, other trees were always donated by another European country or region. The wood of the tree does not go to waste after Christmas, it is used to make toys for children in need, which are distributed by the Catholic charity Caritas, reports the news portal Vatican News.
In 1994, a tree from the Slovak village of Zázrivá was erected in the Vatican. The ceremony was attended by the then Slovak president Michal Kováč and his wife and other representatives of Slovakia, adds Vatican News.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
