Pope launches jubilee year expected to bring millions of visitors to Rome | Religion

Pope Francis opened the “holy door” of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, launching the jubilee year of Catholic celebrations expected to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome.

The 88-year-old pope, who has recently had a cold, was pushed in a wheelchair up to the huge ornate bronze door and knocked on it before the door opened.

In a ceremony watched on screens by thousands of worshipers outside in St. Peter’s Square, the Argentine pope walked through the door followed by a procession as the bells of the Vatican basilica tolled.

Over the next 12 months, Catholic pilgrims passing through the door – which is usually bricked up – will traditionally benefit from a “plenary indulgence”, a form of forgiveness for their sins.

Pope Francis then presided over the Christmas Eve mass in St. Peter’s Church, where he again addressed the victims of the war. “We think of wars, of machine-gunned children, of bombs in schools and hospitals,” he said in his sermon.

The Pope received an angry response from Israel at the weekend for condemning the “atrocity” of Israel’s attacks in Gaza that killed children. He was due to deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world), at midday on Wednesday.

Around 700 security officers are being deployed around the Vatican and Rome for the jubilee celebrations, with measures being stepped up further after Friday’s car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Germany.

Much of Rome has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and Ponte Sant’Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve traffic flow.

Many residents have questioned how the Eternal City – where key sites are already overcrowded and public transport unreliable – will cope with millions more visitors next year.

Key anniversary projects were only completed in the last few days after months of work that turned much of the city into a construction site.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni inaugurated a new road tunnel at Piazza Pia next to the Vatican on Monday, saying it had required a “small civil miracle” to complete the project on time.

Over the next few days, holy doors will be opened in Rome’s three great basilicas and in Catholic churches around the world.

On Thursday, Pope Francis will open a holy door in Rome’s Rebibbia prison and preside over a mass in support of the inmates.

Organized by the church every 25 years, the anniversary is intended as a period of reflection and penance and is marked by a wide range of cultural and religious events, from fairs to exhibitions, conferences and concerts.

“It’s my first time in Rome and for me to be here in the Vatican I already feel blessed,” said Lisbeth Dembele, a 52-year-old French tourist who visited St. Peter’s Square earlier.

The jubilee, whose motto this year is “Pilgrims of Hope”, addresses the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics, but also aims to reach a wider audience.

Traditions have evolved since the first such event back in 1300, launched by Pope Boniface VIII. This year, the Vatican has provided pilgrims with online registration and multilingual phone apps to navigate events.

Jubilee 2025 also has a mascot named Luce (meaning light in Latin) inspired by Japanese anime cartoons. The event will see groups from all over the world come to Rome throughout 2025, from sports and business figures to migrants, artists and young people.

Among the groups registered on the official website is the Italian LGBTQ group La Tenda di Gionata, reflecting the pope’s call for the church to be open to all.

In his homily, the Pope said the jubilee was a time of “spiritual renewal” and hope, including for “our mother earth, disfigured by profiteering” and “for the poorer countries weighed down by unjust debt”.

In addition to the regular jubilees every 25 years, the church has arranged extraordinary jubilees, the latest in 2016. The next is in 2033 to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.