Relic ‘from Jesus’ manger’ returns to Bethlehem

SPIRIT-LIFTING The thumbsized relic dates back more than 2,000 years and was sent by St. Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the Vatican in the 7th century. Its return was spirit-lifting moment for the Palestinians. —AFP

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A tiny wooden relic that some Christians believe to be part of Jesus’ manger arrived on Saturday in its permanent home in the biblical city of Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the Pope.

Cheerful crowds greeted the relic, sheathed in an ornate case, 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 the Palestinians. It coincides with Advent, a four-week period leading up to Christmas. Troubled Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied 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.

Tiny portion

Christians make up a small minority of Palestinians and Bethlehem is one of the only cities in the West Bank and Gaza where Christmas is celebrated.

According to Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land, Palestinian 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.

Patton said the relic dates back more than 2,000 years and was sent to the Vatican in the 7th century.

“It’s a great joy” that the piece returns to its original place, said Patton, as quoted by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.

The thumb-sized wood piece was once kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. It was handed over earlier this week to the custodian of the Bethlehem church, who said it brought “great honor to believers and pilgrims in the area.”

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 piece was unveiled to worshippers at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem for a day of celebrations and prayer.

Revered by faithful

The provenance of ancient relics is often questionable. Still, they are revered by the Christian faithful, among them the many pilgrims who squeeze through a narrow sandstone entrance in the Church of the Nativity to visit the birth grotto that is its centerpiece.

“We are proud that part of the manger is back in Bethlehem because we feel that the soul of God is with us more than before,” said Chris Giacaman, 53, a Bethlehem homemaker, as she stood outside the church.

Others were a little let down.

“It’s a small piece, we thought it would be a bigger piece,” said Sandy Shahin Hijazeen, 32. “When we heard that the manger is coming back, we thought it would be the whole manger, but then we saw it.”

On Saturday evening, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and other officials attended a Christmas tree lighting in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity.