With the opening of the Holy Door and an impressive ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis inaugurated Jubilee 2025, which is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome in the coming months. The rite was followed by the Christmas Mass officiated by the Pontiff, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in attendance, among others.
St. Peter’s Square was impressively packed with faithful despite the cold weather. The Jubilee, also known as the Holy Year, is an exceptional and solemn event in the Catholic Church that takes place every 25 years.
This year, Francis dedicated the event – which will last from Dec. 24, 2024 to Jan. 6, 2026 – to Hope.
It is the second ordinary Jubilee presided over by Bergoglio, following the 2015 extraordinary Jubilee dedicated to Mercy. The tradition has deep roots dating back to the Old Testament: every 50th year a special time of freedom and reconciliation was proclaimed, when debts were canceled, slaves freed and lands returned to their original owners. The Jubilee in its modern version was promulgated by Pope Boniface VIII in the Middle Ages as a means of remission of sins.
In short, the pilgrim who passes through the Holy Door obtains it, only if they are repentant. The faithful already from the early afternoon hours had queued up at the gates for metal detector checks, amidst imposing security measures; the risk of terrorism was considered high by security. It is thus a religious occasion of great importance for the worl.