Francis Robert Prevost celebrates his first Christmas as the highest pontiff of the Church, elected Pope on March 8. When you turn on the 25 meter Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square and inaugurate the manger this end of 2025, Leo XIV asked “keep the Christmas tradition alive in a world that needs desperately keep hope“.
“The nativity scene is an important sign: it reminds us that we are part of a wonderful adventure of salvation in which we are never alone,” he said in a ceremony with the organizers of a living nativity scene that will be performed this Saturday in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
He asked the faithful, who are many in these days when The Holy Jubilee Year of 2025 culminatesin Saint Peter’s Square and in the Vatican Basilica, remember that the first to represent the Birth of Jesus was Saint Francis, in 1223.
“Since then, it has been customary to represent in various ways the Nativity of the Lord, of the God who comes without weapons, without strength, to defeat man’s pride, violence and desire for possession.”
He recalled that God “guides us to our true identity, which has spread throughout the world,” citing a catechesis by Pope Ratzinger. “It is precisely like this, from the Bethlehem grotto, where Mary, Joseph and the Child are found in its disarming povertythat we set out again to begin a new life following the steps of Christ,” he highlighted.
The Pope highlighted that “for the pilgrims from all over the world who will gather in St. Peter’s Square, the manger will remind them that God draws closer to humanity, he becomes one of us, entering our history with the smallness of a child.”
The Vatican released the calendar of liturgical celebrations for Christmas 2025, as is customary in St. Peter’s Basilica. The celebrations They will start on Wednesday the 24th with the Mass on the Night of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, presided over by the Pope in the Papal Chapel.
On Christmas Day, December 25, The Pope will preside over the 10:00 Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. At noon, from the central Loggia of San Pedro, he will give the traditional blessing The city and the world.
On December 31, at five in the afternoon, the Pontiff will lead the First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God, followed by the traditional singing of the God bless youwith which the Pope will thank for the calendar year that has just passed.
The new year 2026 will open with the Holy Mass on January 1 at 10:00, in which the pontiff will preside in the Papal Chapel over the celebration for the solemnity of the Most Holy Mary, Mother of God, within the Octave of Christmas.
The last big christmas celebration It will be on January 6, 2026, on the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. At 9:30, Pope Leo
The Pope recalled a few days ago that “Christmas reminds us that God, to manifest himself, chooses a human plot. He does not use imposing scenery, but reaches us in the very heart of small stories,” he said, receiving the promoters and artists of the Christmas Concert that was held in the Conciliation Auditorium.
The Pope recalled that it is necessary to “avoid obsession with shopping” and instead suggested: “let us invite the poor and lonely people.” He also recalled the importance of “a civilization for peace.”