The Vatican has removed a nativity scene sculpture of baby Jesus swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh from its Paul VI Hall, where it was unveiled by Pope Francis over the weekend. The keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian resistance, sparked controversy and criticism, though some celebrated it as a poignant statement about the current crisis in Gaza.

While the baby Jesus figure will be returned to the manger on Christmas Eve, per Catholic tradition, it is unclear whether the keffiyeh will be reinstalled.

In an emailed statement, the Holy See Press Office said that the figure of Jesus has been removed as part of the Catholic nativity tradition, in which the baby is added on Christmas Eve night to mark the moment of Jesus’s birth. The manger scene had only been installed in full for the purposes of demonstration during the public unveiling. A spokesperson confirmed the figure will be added on December 24, but they did not reply as to whether the keffiyeh will still be included in the presentation.

A Vatican press official reportedly revealed that the scarf “was added at the last moment by the artist who created the nativity scene,” according to Corriere della Sera.

“I doubt they will replace [Jesus] with a keffiyeh, as there have been some complaints regarding this,” the artist, Johny Andonia, said in an email.

The addition of the traditional black-and-white checkered scarf, which has become a symbol of Palestinian support and resistance, made headlines and sparked controversy and criticism among some groups. These include the Jewish-American nonprofit B’nai B’rith International. The group said in a post on X that they were “disturbed” by the Vatican display of a Palestinian-made nativity scene featuring Jesus on a keffiyeh.

“This isn’t just politicization, but revisionism. It presents (only) Palestinians as innocent victims—and Jesus as a Palestinian, not a Jew,” the post continued.

 

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Others celebrated the keffiyeh’s use as a swaddling cloth for baby Jesus, which has become a worldwide trend. In some cases, these nativity scenes, dubbed “Christ in the Rubble,” show the baby on debris reminiscent of bombed buildings in Gaza in the place of a traditional straw manger. One of these scenes recently appeared at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington’s Capitol Hill and Friends of Sabeel North America’s Michigan chapter reportedly plans to install two versions in Detroit, in a park and at a market.

The first “Christ in the Rubble” scene was produced by the Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem in December 2023, and it soon saw copycats in Italy and abroad. At that time, Isaac told Middle East Eye that “if Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza.” The idea is the basis for his upcoming book Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza.

The ‘Nativity of Bethlehem 2024’ scene by artists at Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem was unveiled by Pope Francis at the Vatican. Photo: Mitri Raheb.

The Vatican’s nativity scene contains figures carved from olive wood and a mother-of-pearl Star of Bethlehem that were created by Palestinian artists and craftspeople. The project was organized by Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem and produced in collaboration with the Palestinian Presidential Committee for Church Affairs and the Palestinian Embassy to the Vatican.

“With tears in our eyes, let us raise our prayer for peace,” Pope Francis said at its inauguration on December 7. “Brothers and sisters, enough war, enough violence!”

The pontiff has frequently condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, at one time calling it “immoral” and last month calling for it to be investigated as a possible genocide. Today he meet the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who gifted him a painting depicting him with the Pope and another depicting the Pope during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014. According to a statement from the Holy See press office, the “very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza” was discussed at the meeting, as was the hope for “a ceasefire and the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”

Pope Francis has also met with the families of several Israelis who were taking hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and called for their return.