For the Jubilee the “100 Cribs at the Vatican” Exhibition - with 125 nativity scenes on display – will be open until January 6

“The ‘100 Cribs at the Vatican’ Exhibition will be an event which will help revive our faith … it is an annual occasion, which, for years has helped us see the mystery of Christmas more clearly”, said the Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, as he opened the seventh edition of the International Nativity Scene Exhibition. The Exhibition will be open to visitors  in the extraordinary setting of Bernini's Colonnade in St. Peter's Square – the same space which has hosted the Exhibition curated by the Dicastery for seven years - every day until January 6, 2025. This year, the initiative forms part of the "Jubilee is Culture" season, being staged in preparation for the 2025 Holy Year.

"As we do every year, we are inviting one country, one place, to animate the event and make our Exhibition more dynamic,” added the Archbishop, as he spoke to the large group of families who had come to the Piazza for the inauguration. “This year the choice could only fall on Rome, which, after 25 years will host the Jubilee of 2025, whose Holy Door will be opened by Pope Francis on Christmas night, December 24. We have managed to put together 125 nativity scenes, from 21 different countries. The world is therefore present in Rome, in St. Peter's Square, to give that message of peace and serenity that we all feel the need and responsibility for, because in our own small way we can contribute to building it."

The event was attended by hundreds of children, young people, and adults, as well as Rome’s Assessor for Culture, Massimiliano Smerilli, the Musical Band of the Vatican Gendarmerie and the children's choir of the French Chateaubriand School of Rome, who enhanced the ceremony with their Christmas carols.

"Among the 125 nativity scenes on show is that of Rome City Council, and we are honored by this,” said Assessor Smerilli. “We are living in times of great anxiety and apprehension, yet occasions like these, which are community-based, in a way which only the nativity scene exhibition can be, come to our aid. It is a moment of encounter between different countries, but also different techniques and materials. The skills of many artisans are on display in this extraordinary show every year. We are working to make Rome as welcoming as possible; we are doing all we can to complete as many construction sites as possible between now and the opening of the Holy Door."

After the formal speeches, Archbishop Fisichella, as per tradition, cut the ribbon to officially inaugurate the Exhibition, together with Assessor Smerilli. Until January 6, 2025, the Exhibition will be open to visitors every day under the left arm of Bernini's Colonnade in St. Peter's Square, with free admission, from 10.00am to 7.30pm, with the exception of December 24 and January 31 when the Exhibition will close earlier at 5pm.