As the festive season draws upon us, Pope Benedict XVI is attracting increasing attention in the international press. Today (12th December) is scheduled to see the first tweet issued by the pontiff, a message which is predicted to reach at least 1 million followers; a remarkable number which fades in comparison to the 32 million people following Lady Gaga – what does that say about modern society?
Aside from his increasing social media presence, Pope Benedict has also been at the centre of a media storm which accused him of “banning Christmas”. The article was in response to the pontiff’s latest book, “The Infancy Narratives-Jesus of Nazareth” in which he re-evaluates evidence for aspects of the Christmas story. He commented that there was no historical record of angels singing carols and also no account of animals being present in the manger, statements which were easy fodder for attention-grabbing headlines. However, these sensationalist accounts were gross misrepresentations of what the Pope actually said and prompted a Christian news blog to release a re-assuring statement that the pontiff did not ban Christmas!
Aside from the worrying evidence of just how easily “news” can be fabricated and misconstrued, what attracted me to this story was the importance of animals in the Christmas tradition. The idea that seemed to upset people the most was the suggestion that a donkey and an ox might be removed from nativity scenes for ever more (which would undoubtedly alleviate some of the stresses associated with home-made nativity costumes!). This outcry is a reminder of our need to feel connected with animals and the natural world in general; E.O Wilson’s concept of biophilia. The presence of animals in the manger seems to be associated with some of the comforting qualities which contribute to the ever-expanding success of animal assisted therapies. Positive effects of human-animal interactions permeate all aspects of our society, from religious traditions to promoting a general sense of health and well-being in our daily lives. Some evidence even suggests that pet ownership may be correlated with longer life spans!
Rest-assured, therefore, the Pope did not in fact “ban Christmas” and both a donkey and an ox feature in the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. I guess this means that there will be more proud parents of “donkey number 1” swelling the audience ranks of nativity plays for many years to come!
Author
Sive Finlay: sfinlay[at]tcd.ie
Photo credit
Wikimedia commons