FIRST ON FOX: The leader of an international pro-life organization lauded the Nativity scene set up by the Vatican that highlighted the more than 25,000 babies who were not aborted this year thanks to the group's outreach initiatives.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, 40 Days for Life CEO and founder Shawn Carney said the Vatican reached out to his organization about creating a Nativity scene representing the babies he says were saved by the group's pro-life activism, which includes prayer and vigils outside abortion clinics.

"It's really beautiful," Carney said.

"The artist made the straw in the manger where Baby Jesus is and Mary, and Joseph," he continued. "The straw is made up of 25,000 ribbons. Each ribbon represents a baby boy or baby girl that was saved from abortion during a 40 Days for Life campaign."

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Crafted 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 at a recent audience with the donors of the Vatican's Christmas decorations that a sign of life was reflected in the Nativity scene in the Vatican’s audience hall, which he described as a sign of "faith and hope."

Each of the ribbons that decorate the scene "represent a life saved from abortion thanks to the prayer and support provided by Catholic organizations to many mothers in need," said the pontiff, 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," particularly amid a series of recent bad news in the U.S. and around the world.

"It's so inspiring, and frankly, we've had a lot of bad news lately in America and around the world, and this display represents good news," he told Fox News Digital.

"It represents babies that have been saved from abortion, and the artist who is a participant in 40 Days for Life who is from Costa Rica, did a wonderful job. She did a fantastic job making this beautiful display that really shows the dedication of so many pro-life volunteers around the world who take time out in the hopes of saving a baby. And now those saved babies are represented in the most important place in the world, which is the Nativity, which is what we pin our hope to, that Jesus came through the womb, that he came through a family to save us from our sins," he continued.

"So it’s beautiful news, it’s good news, and I think it's news that's being well received as we've had so much bad news the last few weeks," Carney added.

Carney went on to explain 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 popped out of an acorn and saved us from our sins. He didn't do that. God chose a family, a holy family, a 14-year-old virgin, to bring his son into the world through the womb, which is statistically now 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 display, but I think it speaks to the heart of every Christian that looks for hope in the world, that looks for hope for us to overcome our own sins, and certainly hope that we can end the tragedy and the barbaric nature of abortion in our world. America is leading the way through that." "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, if we fast, if we're faithful and we get to work, we can end abortion anywhere."

Carney also stressed that the Nativity 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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"The Nativity is one of the most depicted scenes in the history of the world, and it represents that great meeting between Heaven and earth, Christ coming into the world through a child nine months after the Annunciation," he said. "So it's absolutely beautiful. It puts emphasis on how we treat our unborn children with 72 million abortions around the world every year. It is by far the greatest moral crisis of our time, and we have to respond to that. We have to respond with great hope, and you don't find a greater hope than Jesus coming into the world and being with us on Christmas Day."

The pro-life leader also stated that the pope "is going to be a stronger voice than most people think" on the issue of abortion.

"I think he's righting the ship," Carney said. "I think he's speaking with a little bit more clarity than what we saw from Pope Francis. Pope Leo has been very supportive of the pro-life movement. He's certainly been very supportive of 40 Days for Life with this beautiful Nativity at the Vatican, so I'm very encouraged."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., agreed on the condemnation of antisemitism in a rare moment of shared ideology and praise during an interview Tuesday on "Hannity."

"I just want to commend John Fetterman for the courage he's served… he's shown extraordinary courage calling out antisemitism in his own party. And he's done so at considerable cost to himself," Sen. Cruz told host Sean Hannity.

The senators’ bipartisan discussion comes in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach mass shooting that claimed 15 lives.

Authorities say the shooting broke out as roughly 1,000 people gathered at Australia’s most popular beach to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah.

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"What we saw on Bondi Beach was the latest manifestation of this evil, and this evil is spreading. This hatred of Israel. This hatred of Jews," Cruz said.

"They [Jews] can't even celebrate, you know, one of their holidays without getting gunned down and mowed and targeted," Fetterman added.

What Fetterman called a "horrific massacre" also left 42 hospitalized, including two police officers.

One of the deceased victims was a Holocaust survivor, according to reports.

The Democratic lawmaker stressed that antisemitism is an issue his party must "confront," and Cruz agreed, sharing fierce criticisms of the deadly Bondi attack.

"It is grotesque, it is evil, and it is dangerous, and we need to stand up and front it," the Texas senator said.

New South Wales police say the two suspects, a father and son, were taken into custody. The father, 50, has died; his 24-year-old son remains hospitalized with injuries.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed the attack was motivated by "Islamic State ideology."

Sen. Cruz condemned the "radical" Islamic state.

"Radical Islamic terrorism, they are at war with us," he told Fox News. "This is their objective. There's evidence that this father-son duo of murderers were [sic] affiliated with ISIS."

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Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Muslim man, is credited with disarming one of the two gunmen. The heroic act was captured in a viral video showing him wrestle the firearm out of the attacker’s hands. 

Ahmed has received an outpouring of praise for his life-saving actions. Albanese called him an "Australian hero."

Israeli officials have sharply chastised the Australian government for failing to safeguard Jewish communities amid what they deem as a surge in antisemitic incidents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to the shooting on X, revealed he wrote a letter to Albanese four months ago.

"I told him: 'Your policy encourages terrorism. It encourages antisemitism,’" Netanyahu wrote to X.

As their conversation broadened beyond the Bondi attack, Cruz and Fetterman also expressed agreement with President Donald Trump’s destruction of Iranian nuclear sites.

"The single most important foreign policy decision President Trump has made in the second term was the decision to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities," Cruz argued.

"When the Ayatollah chants death to America, I believe him," the Republican senator added. "The president as commander-in-chief has an obligation to keep the American people safe and allowing the Ayatollah to acquire a nuclear weapon that he could use to murder thousands or even millions of Americans was an unacceptable risk."

Sen. Fetterman called President Trump’s bombing an "absolutely" appropriate move.

"I believe I was the only Democrat that was actually calling for and fully supported bombing the Iranian nuclear facility," Fetterman added.

The discussion turned to domestic concerns, including rising antisemitic incidents in the United States.

Fetterman criticized former President Joe Biden’s border policies as a "disaster," calling for increased vetting of immigrants. 

"It's also reasonable to bring in people that have the kinds of values that are compatible with our values," Fetterman explained. "That is not about free speech. That's about bringing on the people that want to assimilate, and they want to build their lives in our country, not becoming part of a destructive force in our nation."