Pope Benedict XVI lit Wednesday at a distance, using a tablet, lights of the largest Christmas tree in the world, located in Gubbio, a town in the region of Umbria in central Italy.
"I hope this will be a ray of light in the shadows," he said smiling - was in residence in the Vatican - and then pulled the tablet, thus igniting lights on the tree which is at a distance of 230 kilometers.



Christmas Tree of Gubbio - in reality an electric tree, built in lights - was included in the Guinness Book in 1991. It has a height of 750 meters and a maximum diameter of 450 meters.



It consists of several hundred bulbs and is located near a medieval town.



Wednesday evening ceremony was broadcast live on the public channel RAI 1.



"This is a message of peace," said Mayor of Gubbio, Guerrini Diego.



In the six years in office, Pope Benedict XVI has campaigned consistently to improve communication, often affected by internal bureaucracy of the Vatican.



Thus, in June this year, Benedict XVI wrote his first tweet to launch Vatican news portal. He was also the first tweet ever written by a pope.