Christmas tree arrives at Vatican
AP - Wed Dec 13, 3:50 AM ET
A crane lifts a 32-meter-high (106 feet) Christmas tree, in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006. The 80-year old tree was donated by the southern Italian region of Calabria. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
AP via Yahoo! News
Wed Dec 13, 8:21 AM ET
VATICAN CITY - The pope's Christmas tree — the tallest to date to adorn the Vatican — is finally in position in St. Peter's Square after bad weather and other problems delayed its arrival for more than a week.
"This morning I saw the tree from my window," Pope Benedict XVI told several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for the weekly public audience Wednesday.
The 109-foot fir tree from the mountains of Sila National Park in Calabria, southern Italy, arrived during the night. Thick fog encountered en route was the last of a series of delivery problems.
Workers had problems cutting down the tree because of heavy winds. Then they had to figure out how to hoist the 9-ton tree onto the helicopter that carried it on the first leg of the trip to the Vatican.
"We were on the Sila for three days," Eugenio Ripepe, supervisor of the delivery, told AP Television News as he described the transportation difficulties.
The tradition of erecting a Christmas tree in St. Peter's Square, next to a larger-than-life Nativity scene, was introduced by Pope John Paul II in 1982.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 1:36 PM
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