The 82-foot spruce tree hailed from Italy's German-speaking majority autonomous province on the Austrian border

The life-size Nativity scene was designed by the Nocera Inferiore-Sarno diocese in the southern Campania province, featuring architectural elements from the region

The inauguration of the Nativity scene and tree lighting are part of Christmas season events that also will include a Christmas Eve Mass and the traditional Urbi et Orbi, or 'To the City and the World', address by the pope on Christmas Day

As people get ready to celebrate Christmas this year, this holiday season will also close the Jubilee Year opened by the late Pope Francis

There are reportedly more than 1.4 billion followers of Christianity around the world, and approximately 28 million of them are in India