POPE'S XMAS TREE MUDDLE
After some initial hiccups, the Vatican can breathe a sigh of relief since the annual Christmas Tree for St. Peter's Square has finally arrived in good time for the 2022 festive season.
Every year, a different Italian region donates the Vatican tree, which dominates the centre of the great piazza in front of St. Peter's. This year it was the turn of Abruzzo and the regional authorities had picked out a majestic 30m-tall silver fir in the Monte Castel Barone nature reserve that spreads over the central mountainous area of the peninsula, near the charming village of Rosello, (total 182 inhabitants) classed among the most beautiful borghi (small historic towns) of Italy. However, after investigation, the chosen tree actually turned out to be over the Abruzzo border and in the territory of Agnone (celebrated for its bell casting industry) in the adjoining Molise Region.
To add fuel to the fire, environmentalists protested that a tree of this age (an estimated 200 years) and dimension (30m tall) should not be cut down at all. The dispute threatened to drag on for at least a month while the regional authorities sorted things out by which time, of course, the festive season would be well over. Luckily, the Christmas spirit of goodwill prevailed and the dispute has been amicably resolved, with a graceful withdrawal on the part of Molise, leaving the way free for Rosello, which chose an alternative tree from the Palena Tree Nursery in Abruzzo.
The new tree, a mere stripling of 62 years of age, has now been delivered, with the unveiling and lighting ceremony scheduled for the 3rd December. The tree will remain in situ until after Epiphany.
Info: www.comune.rosello.ch.it
