FIRST ON FOX: The leader of an international pro-life organization praised the Vatican’s Nativity scene, which highlighted the more than 25,000 babies who were not aborted this year thanks to the group’s outreach initiatives.
“It’s really beautiful,” Carney said.
“The artist created the straw in the manger where the baby Jesus lies, Mary and Joseph,” he continued. “The straw consists of 25,000 ribbons. Each ribbon represents a little boy or girl who was saved from an abortion during the 40 Days for Life campaign.”
POPE LEO
A nativity scene donated by Costa Rica, depicting the Madonna pregnant, in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican. (Getty Images)
It was created by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto and donated by the Central American country. It features a pregnant Virgin Mary, Joseph and thousands of colored ribbons dedicated to the babies who were not aborted.
Pope Leo XIV said during a recent audience with donors of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations that a sign of life was reflected in the nativity scene in the Vatican audience hall, which he described as a sign of “faith and hope.”
Each of the ribbons decorating the scene “represents a life saved from abortion thanks to the prayer and support that Catholic organizations have provided to many mothers in need,” said the pope, who personally blessed the display.
Leo also thanked the artist for the message affirming that “life is protected from conception.”
Carney said the nativity was “inspiring” and “beautiful news”, especially amid a string of recent bad news in the US and around the world.
Pope Leo (40 days for life)
“It represents babies saved from abortion, and the artist from Costa Rica, who is participating in 40 Days for Life, has done a fantastic job. She has done a fantastic job creating this beautiful exhibition that really shows the dedication of so many pro-life volunteers around the world who take time out in the hope of saving a baby. And now those saved babies are represented in the most important place in the world, which is the Nativity scene, where we place our hope, that Jesus came through the womb, that he came through a family to save us from our sins,” he continued.
“So it’s great news, it’s good news, and I think it’s going to be well received as we’ve had so much bad news in the last few weeks,” Carney added.
Carney further explained that the nativity is “at the heart of Catholicism and all Christians, and certainly at the heart of the pro-life movement.”
“This is why we do what we do,” he said. “Our Lord could have come out of an acorn and saved us from our sins. He didn’t. God chose a family, a holy family, a fourteen-year-old virgin, to give birth to His son through the womb, which is now statistically the most dangerous place in the world. He chose the womb, he chose a family, and the family is under attack. So this is a beautiful nativity scene, but I think it speaks to the heart of every Christian who is looking for hope in the world, who is looking for hope for us to find our own sins, and certainly the hope that we can end the tragedy and barbaric nature of abortion in our world. America is leading the way.” “We just had a historic year for the pro-life movement in 2025, and I think 2026 is going to be even better,” he added. “This display certainly inspires so much hope and confidence that if we pray, fast, be faithful and put in the work, we can end abortion everywhere.”
Carney also emphasized that the birth of a pregnant Mary with an unborn Jesus “speaks to the scientific reality of the unborn child and the Biblical reality that Our Lord came through the womb.”
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Ribbons that Catholic organizations say represent lives saved by abortion are on display at Nacimiento Gaudium, a nativity scene set in the Paul VI Hall during an audience led by Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican. (AP)
“The Nativity is one of the most depicted scenes in the history of the world, representing that great meeting between heaven and earth when Christ came into the world through a child nine months after the Annunciation,” he said. “So it’s absolutely beautiful. It puts a spotlight on the way we treat our unborn children with 72 million abortions every year around the world. It is by far the greatest moral crisis of our time, and we must respond to it. We must respond with great hope, and you can’t find a greater hope than Jesus coming into the world and being with us on Christmas Day.”
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The pro-life leader also stated that the Pope “will have a stronger voice than most people think” on the issue of abortion.
“I think he’s righting the ship,” Carney said. “I think he speaks a little more clearly than what we’ve seen from Pope Francis. Pope Leo has been very supportive of the pro-life movement. He’s certainly been a great supporter of 40 Days for Life with this beautiful nativity scene in the Vatican, so I’m very encouraged.”
