A Collective Testimony with a Universal Language

The Vatican Christmas Tree Lights Up with Children’s Hope

The decorations, inspired by the theme “The World I Wish For”, will give a voice to children with cancer involved in the ceramic-therapy workshops of Fondazione Lene Thun, active throughout Italy.

Vatican City, 29 May 2026 – Fondazione Lene Thun will be responsible for decorating the Christmas Tree in St Peter’s Square next Christmas. The tree, donated by the Municipality of Terranova di Pollino, in the province of Potenza, Italy will shine with the wishes of children receiving treatment in Italian hospitals: wishes shaped in clay, born from small hands and great courage.

Each decoration reflects a fragment of their ideal world, bringing to life the major project “The World I Wish For”: a collective story that comes from the hearts of many young patients, from their deepest thoughts and from the emotions they entrust to clay. In Fondazione Lene Thun’s ceramic-therapy workshops, held every week in Italian hospitals, every creation becomes a voice, a wish, a vision of the future. A powerful message that, now more than ever, invites us to imagine – and build – a better world.

Founded in 2006, Fondazione Lene Thun provides free and ongoing ceramic-therapy service, mainly in paediatric onco-haematology departments. Today, 56 workshops are active in 36 leading healthcare facilities and, for over twenty years of activity, more than 80,000 children, together with their families, have found in this journey a space for expression, relief and sharing.

Ceramic therapy is much more than a creative activity: it is a healing gesture, a welcoming language, a tool capable of transforming difficult emotions into shapes, colors and meaning. It provides tangible support that improves the experience of young patients, giving them back lightness, dignity and strength.

Through this initiative, St Peter’s Square becomes the setting for a collective story. A story of resilience and hope, giving a voice to children and their extraordinary desire to live, as well as to all those who face challenges every day, transforming a universal symbol such as the Christmas Tree into a message of hope and the future.

The project will be carried out with the support of the Governorate of Vatican City State, through the Directorate of Infrastructure and Services.