Vatican City, Nov 27, 2025 / 14:30 pm

A towering Christmas tree now stands in the center of St. Peter’s Square, after the spruce arrived at the Vatican on Thursday morning.

The 88-foot-tall spruce tree from Italy’s Bolzano province was erected next to the ancient Egyptian obelisk which stands in the middle of the 17th century Baroque square designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

This year, the northern Italian municipalities of Lagundo and Ultimo gifted the Christmas tree to the Vatican. The tree was harvested in the alpine valley of Ultimo.

In an Oct. 20 interview published on the Vatican State website, Bishop Ivo Muser of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone said the tree reaffirms the local church’s “spiritual and emotional bond” with the pope.

“It is a way of saying: ‘We are with you,

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