VATICAN CITY, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- This year's Christmas scene at the Vatican shows Jesus lying in Joseph's carpentry shop in Nazareth surrounded by tools of the trade.
The Vatican said that the scene is based on two verses from the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew: "When Joseph woke up, he did as the Angel of God ordered and took Mary into his house. Without them knowing each other, a child was born and he called his name Jesus."
The display is a break with recent tradition at the Vatican. For 25 years, the display has shown Jesus in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem, the scene described by St. Luke.
Sources at the Vatican told a British newspaper, The Telegraph, that one reason for the change is to encourage a return to the Gospels. Some Italian cities in recent years have erected Nativity scenes where contemporary figures like former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi mingle with the crowd around the manger.
Pope Benedict XVI will inaugurate the Nativity at the Vatican on Christmas Eve.
