Pope Francis presided over his weekly general audience on Wednesday alongside a Palestinian-crafted Nativity scene that was missing its eyebrow-raising signature element: a keffiyeh-draped manger holding the infant Jesus.
The wooden Nativity scene in the Vatican’s main audience hall had generated headlines when it was unveiled December 7 because of the presence of the keffiyeh, the black-and-white checkered headscarf that has become a potent symbol of the Palestinian cause.
