Fragment of Jesus’ manger returns to Bethlehem from Rome
A wooden relic that some Christians believe to be part the manger into which Jesus was placed after his birth has arrived in its permanent home in the biblical city of Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to the pope in Rome.
Cheerful crowds greeted the ornately encased fragment before it entered the Franciscan Church of St Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, the West Bank holy site thought to be the birthplace of Jesus.
The return of the relic by the Vatican was a spirit-lifting moment for the Palestinians and its small minority of Christians. It coincides with Advent – the four-week period heralding Christmas for worshippers who follow the Gregorian calendar.
Troubled Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is preparing for the occasion, where pilgrims from around the world flock to the city.
Palestinian Scouts played the bagpipes as a clergyman held the silver reliquary – a container for holy relics – and marched towards the church.
The fragment, only a few centimetres long, was once kept in the Basilica of Santa
Maria Maggiore in Rome. It was handed over this week to the custodian of the Bethlehem church, who said it brought “great honour to believers and pilgrims in the area”.
Brother Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land, said the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked to borrow the entire manger, but Pope Francis decided to send a tiny portion of it to stay in Bethlehem permanently.
“We are excited and thank the Pope, the holy father, Francis, for the gift and the right to safeguard the holy relic,” said Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land for the Catholic Church.
“It’s a great joy” that the piece returns to its original place, Brother Patton said, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Amira Hanania, a member of Mr Abbas’s Higher Committee of Churches Affairs, said “to celebrate Christmas with the presence of part of the manger in which Jesus Christ was born will be a magnificent and huge event”.
St Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, sent the fragment believed to be part of the manger to Pope Theodore I in
the 640s, about the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.
On Friday, the thumb-sized piece of wood was unveiled to worshippers at the Chapel of Notre Dame in Jerusalem for a day of celebration and prayer.
On Saturday evening, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and other officials attended a Christmas tree lighting in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity.
Hundreds of faithful and residents also gathered for the festive annual event, which included fireworks and songs.
Revellers and worshippers alike will pack the same square for Christmas Eve festivities.
While the security situation has eased around the town in recent years, Israeli checkpoints guard the entrances to Bethlehem, which lies slightly to the south of Jerusalem.