@Gaetano Masciullo In your article, you state that Avvenire “proposed symbolic reinterpretations that go so far as to include representations devoid of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph”. However, in the original Italian text by Marco Vergottini, the Boston Nativity without the Holy Family is cited descriptively and explicitly framed as a case that makes many perceive “a threshold not to be crossed,” while the author insists that any attualizzazione must “never obscure the heart of the scene, namely the birth of Jesus, God-with-us.”
Mon Dec 15, 2025 - 12:55 pm EST ROME, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the traditional value of the Nativity scene while Italian bishops promoted “updated” uses marked by an ideological bent. The Saturday edition of Avvenire — the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference — gave space to an article by theologian Marco Vergottini on the theme of contemporary Nativity scenes, proposing symbolic reinterpretations that go so far as to include representations devoid of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, as a sign of closeness to migrants, the poor, and marginalized groups. Vergottini, former assistant to the controversial Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, is the author of an article published in Avvenire entitled “The Right Nativity Scene? It Allows Us to Recognize That God Is Still Being Born.” The text takes its cue from a case that occurred in the Archdiocese of Boston, where the pastor of St. Susanna parish in Dedham set up a Nativity scene without the Holy Family to …