The Vatican illuminated this year's Christmas tree and unveiled the nativity scene for the holiday season on Saturday (12/7). The 95-foot-tall red spruce hails from a forest in Trento, Italy. The nativity scene also features a traditional reed hut used by lagoon fishermen set in an environment from the early 20th century.

Assuring the crowd of the sustainable harvesting of the tree, the pope compared the rings in the 98-foot-tall tree to the generations of believers gathering around the single image of Jesus.

During the Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for a global ceasefire during the Christmas holidays, emphasizing the need for peace and dialogue. Pope Francis, addressing the faithful gathered in St.

"Let us continue to pray for peace, in tormented Ukraine, in the Middle East — Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and now Syria — in Myanmar, in Sudan, and wherever people suffer from war and violence," Pope Francis said on Dec.