A controversy has broken out over this year’s Christmas tree in the Vatican, destined to come from the forests of Val di Ledro in Italy’s northern Trentino region.
Almost 40,000 people have signed a petition to stop 40 fir trees from being chopped down, particularly the so-called Green Giant, a 30m-high specimen around two centuries old.
Residents of the valley near Lake Garda have slammed the proposed cutting of the ‘Gigante verde’ to be sent to St Peter’s Square for the Christmas season as an “anachronistic outrage”.
The petition urges Pope Francis to halt the felling, reminding the pontiff that in his encyclicals focused on caring for the natural environment he emphasised that humans must respect the laws of nature.