The first such protest in connection with the Pope's Christmas tree

For the first time in over 30 years of tradition of putting up a Christmas tree in… Vatican there was such a massive protest against the plans to send it. Local media report that approximately five thousand residents of the Lake Garda area came to the tree with flashlights at night to embrace it and symbolically protest against the plans to cut it down.

READ also: They want to cut down a 200-year-old fir tree and place it in St. Peter's Square. Residents protest

The transport of the almost 30-meter Christmas tree to Rome was announced at the end of November. The lighting ceremony is scheduled to take place in St. Peter's Square on December 7.

“This is a custom that must be abandoned. Therefore, we make an impassioned appeal to His Holiness to spare our Green Giant,” the residents of Valle di Ledro emphasized in their petition to the Pope. It was signed by over 50,000 people.

One of the participants of the night vigil at the Christmas tree said: We are asking the Pope not to allow the tree to be cut down and to come to our valley and see its beauty.

Residents also have a proposal for the Vatican to place an “artistic” Christmas tree in St. Peter's Square, made of wood from trees that fell during violent winds and storms.

– Such a message would truly be a symbol of change. The Pope's words are heard all over the world, said the protesters.

In this context, they also recalled Francis' great commitment to environmental protection and his numerous appeals to care for our “common home”, as he calls it.

The plans to send a Christmas tree to the Vatican are defended by the mayor of Ledro, Renato Girardi. He emphasized that cutting down trees is part of the local economy. In his opinion, protesters are “spoiling the holiday because of one tree.”