Vatican Removes Jesus, Keffiyeh Scarf, and Manger From Nativity Scene
It is common to remove Jesus from the nativity until midnight on Christmas Eve, but removing the manger isn’t common. Hopefully the scarf doesn’t come back.
The Vatican removed Jesus, the keffiyeh scarf, and the manger from a Nativity scene.
BEFORE I CONTINUE: A few reports say the Vatican removed the entire scene. Most outlets also report that they only removed Jesus, the scarf, and the manger.
It is tradition to present the entire scene to the pope. Then, they remove baby Jesus until December 24th.
I do not know if it is common for the Vatican only to remove Jesus or remove Jesus and the manger. I know my church has an empty manger.
Why am I saying all this? Because details matter, especially since the Vatican won’t say anything.
OK, so, when the Nativity scene came out, Jews and Catholics lashed out, especially since the scarf has long been a symbol of Palestinian revolts and hatred toward Israel.
The Catholic News Agency spoke with Johny Andonia, the man who led the project:
Speaking to CNA by phone from Cyprus, where he has an art residency until May, Andonia said he did not expect the scale of the reaction to the keffiyeh, which he also signed off on, after it was approved by people at the Vatican during the Nativity’s installation on Dec. 5.
“It came about in a spontaneous way, actually, because we learned that the child baby Jesus has to be covered or even absent until the 24th of December, and [the on-the-ground coordinator] suggested to cover it with a keffiyeh,” the artist said on Dec. 13.
“And they said no, no, not to cover him. And then he asked, can I put it then under [the child Jesus] and the people … in charge at that time accepted laying the keffiyeh under the baby Jesus, and this is how it came about.”
The Vatican approved of the scarf. I highly doubt the people there didn’t know of the scarf’s significance. Of course, Andonia played it down:
Andonia said he does not agree with commentary from some quarters that the keffiyeh indicates violence or the eradication of others. “It’s only about recognition,” he said. “This keffiyeh represents the people who had presented the Nativity scene.”
Well, in my initial post about the Nativity scene, I provided a history of the keffiyeh scarf. Yeah, it’s always been a symbol of revolts. Yasser Arafat popularized it in the 1960s.
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Comments
“So if you troublemakers are going to complain, we just won’t let you have any Jesus at all.”
Currently: The mountain of BS pilled up since Francis became pope.
Me: So glad to be protestant.
I wonder what would have happened if Pope John Paull II had been pope at the time of Martin Luther.
“This keffiyeh represents the people who had presented the Nativity scene.”
WTF? Can someone take a stab (pun intended) at what he means by this? Whatever the potential meaning, it’s either nonsense or a lie.
Instead of removing Jesus, they would do better to just remove the pope.
Sometimes G-d gets to choose the pope and other times the cardinals prevent that.
I hope the Lord feels the need to discuss this matter with this Pope, in person, and soon.
I am not Catholic, but I respect the Church the position of The Pope and recognize its power. I have been rather disappointed in this particular occupant of the position. He has not done a good job.
So it’s basically just a barn with people now?
Quite the fall from John Paul II and Benedict to where we are now.
Sister Mary Magdalene raps Francis across the knuckles with her ruler.
“You’ve been a b-a-a-d boy!”
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