Nativity Scenes on Display in Jerusalem

To watch the video, click: HERE.

From Christian Media Center:

Br ALBERTO JOAN PARI, ofm, Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land:

"The idea is to show a broader audience, not only Christians, the centrality of Christmas, which over the centuries has become the feast that has fascinated artists, musicians..."

The exhibition features 56 nativity scenes of different sizes and materials. Many are gifts from the Custos of the Holy Land, others were loaned by the Terra Sancta Museum. Mother-of-pearl nativities and some ancient and modern paintings, among others, stand out.

There are also works with special symbolic value, such as the crib and Christmas decorations made from the fragments of the stained-glass windows of the Beit Jala church, which exploded during the Second Intifada.

Br ALBERTO JOAN PARI, ofm, Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land:

"It seems important to me that from a symbol of hatred and destruction a nativity scene and Christmas decorations have come to life again."

Among the various showcases there is also room for some curiosities: the nativity scene made by a group of Muslim women, the one set with a relic from the cave of the Nativity, the one made by the mother of a Poor Clare nun.

Br ALBERTO JOAN PARI, ofm, Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land:

"The cleaning lady saw this collection in my office and said, 'I want to contribute too.' And she brought a very small nativity scene, a really cute miniature one. And then hidden among these nativity scenes is also a gift I received from my grandmother before I left for the Holy Land."

The exhibition will be open until Jan. 8, daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., not including Sundays.

Br ALBERTO JOAN PARI, ofm, Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land:

"This is an opportunity to also wish all the people of Jerusalem and the many curious people who will come to visit us, a Merry Christmas: may it truly be a new rebirth."