The return of the crib: that seems to be the great novelty of Christmas 2005 in Scotland, at least according to Ronnie Convery, spokesman of the Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti. “The most important novelty of our Christmas this year is the re-appearance of Christmas cribs”, he explained in a conversation with SIR“. “The most important crib is the one inaugurated by the archbishop and other Scottish Christian religious leaders, together with the Mayor of Glasgow Liz Cameron, in the central square of the city in recent days. For Catholics it means an important recognition of our religion. Protestantism has always been very strong in Scotland. Cribs and candles were banned from public squares and churches, and the most important festivity of the year was Hogmanay. On Christmas Day, considered a Catholic feast, people went to work”. “Things are changing. Candles are now being lit in Protestant churches, and cribs are being built in public squares. This”, continued Convery, “is the result not so much of a deeper religious life, as a progressive opening of Scotland to Europe. People are travelling more and many traditions of the continent are being imported. Scotland, we can say, has become more tolerant”.
