Making his customary visit to the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before his trip to the French island of Corsica, Pope Francis also met and prayed with dozens of actors staging a living Nativity scene.

On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter's Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223.

Stopping to gaze at and perhaps pray before a Nativity scene is one of the best ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- The representation of Peru's diverse Indigenous communities in this year's Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square embodies the joy and hope of their faith, said Peruvian Bishop Carlos Alberto Salcedo Ojeda of Huancavelica, Peru.

ItöÏÓãÊÓƵapp been a long process, but Sandra Dionisi is finally seeing the fruits of the more than 300 hours labour she put into this yearöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Canada Post Christmas stamp.

EDMONTON -- A new Nativity scene at Edmonton City Hall has taken the centuries-old Christmas tradition into the realm of computer-generated virtual reality.

ItöÏÓãÊÓƵapp amazing how far a small, one-off special creche exhibit has come over the past two decades at St. James Cathedral in downtown Toronto.

VATICAN CITY -- Putting up a Nativity scene before Christmas is a reminder to stop and remember what Christmas is really about and to prepare one's heart like a manger for the coming of Christ, Pope Francis said.

If itöÏÓãÊÓƵapp true that the best ideas are often the simplest ones, then give credit to Pope Francis for endorsing an 800-year-old strategy to place Christ at the centre of Christmas.

VATICAN CITY -- A Nativity scene is a simple reminder of something astonishing: God became human to reveal the greatness of his love "by smiling and opening his arms to all," Pope Francis said in a letter on the meaning and importance of setting up Christmas cribs.