Sheathed in an ornate case, cheerful crowds greeted the relic with much fanfare before it entered the Franciscan Church of St. Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born.
The return of the relic by the Vatican was a spirit-lifting moment for Palestinians. It coincides with Advent, a four-week period leading up to Christmas. Troubled Bethlehem in the West Bank is bracing for the occasion, where pilgrims from around the world flock to the city.
Young Palestinian scouts played bagpipes and the crowd snapped pictures as a clergyman held the silver reliquary and marched toward the church.
Brother Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land, said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had asked Pope Francis to borrow the entire manger, but the pope decided to send a tiny portion of it to stay permanently in Bethlehem.
“It’s a great joy” that the piece returns to its original place, Patton said, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.
A wooden structure that Christians believe was part of the manger where Jesus was born was sent by St. Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.
On Friday, the thumb-sized wooden piece was unveiled to worshipers at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem for a day of celebrations and prayer.
In the evening, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and other officials will attend the lighting of a Christmas tree in the Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity.
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