The Holy Year kicks off

Jubilee, Francis opened the Holy Door: 'So many desolations, let us think of the children who were machine-gunned

Before the gesture of opening the Holy Door, the Pope had recited a prayer saying: "Pilgrims in the world and witnesses of peace", "let us enter the time of mercy and forgiveness".

by Redaction Rome

24 December 2024

Giubileo 2025, ci siamo: il Papa apre la Porta Santa

4' min read

Key points

The Pope: with the Holy Door we enter new life
Security Measures
Francesco cooled
The Opening of the Holy Door
Christmas Mass first event of the Holy Year
Appointments

4' min read

Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. Thus begins the Jubilee 2025 dedicated to the theme of "hope". Before the gesture of opening the Holy Door, the Pope had recited a prayer saying, "Pilgrims in the world and witnesses of peace", "we enter the time of mercy and forgiveness, so that the way of hope that does not disappoint may be opened to every man and woman". The Pope arrived at the door in his wheelchair.

Over thirty thousand faithful in the Vatican

Several civil and military authorities were present in the basilica, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Lorenzo Fontana and Minister for Disabilities Alessandra Locatelli. The faithful present in the basilica numbered six thousand. In St. Peter's Square - Vatican sources report - there are instead about 25,000 faithful following the celebration through the big screens.

Delegations from all over the world are present at St. Peter's. After Francis, cardinals, bishops and representatives of God's people from the five continents pass through the Holy Door. There are also faithful from China and Iran.

The Pope: let us raise our voices, hope is not quiet living

Hope, the theme of the Jubilee 2025, "does not tolerate the indolence of the sedentary and the laziness of those who have settled into their own comforts", "it does not admit the false prudence of those who do not take the plunge for fear of compromising themselves and the calculation of those who think only of themselves; it is incompatible with the quiet life of those who do not raise their voice against evil and against the injustices consumed on the skin of the poorest": the Pope said in his homily, adding that Christian hope "demands of us the audacity to anticipate this promise today, through our responsibility and compassion".

"There is so much desolation in this world, think of the wars, the children being machine-gunned, the bombs on schools and hospitals," the Pope said again in his homily at Christmas Mass.

Pope poor countries are burdened with unjust debts

The Jubilee, Francis said, "calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of the world, so that this may truly become a jubilee time: may it become so for our mother Earth, disfigured by the logic of profit; may it become so for the poorest countries, burdened by unjust debts; may it become so for all those who are prisoners of old and new slavery." "To us, all of us, the gift and the commitment to bring hope where it has been lost: to bring it where life is wounded, in betrayed expectations, in broken dreams, in the failures that shatter the heart; in the weariness of those who can no longer bear it, in the bitter loneliness of those who feel defeated, in the suffering that hollows out the soul; in the long and empty days of prisoners, in the narrow and cold rooms of the poor, in the places desecrated by war and violence," Pope Francis further said. "The Jubilee opens so that all may be given the hope of the Gospel, the hope of love, the hope of forgiveness."

Opening only for four Holy Gates

The year 2025 will also see celebrations in jubilee churches around the world. But the spotlight is on the Vatican and on the Capital City: only four holy doors will be opened, those of the papal basilicas, plus one at the Rebibbia prison, and Pope Francis will open it again on 26 December.

The Pope: with the Holy Door we enter new life

The Holy Door that opens, on Christmas night, is an invitation to make a passage, a Passover of renewal, to enter into that new life that is offered to us by the encounter with Christ," the Pope wrote on X.

Giubileo, ecco in diretta l’apertura della Porta Santa

Security Measures

Massive security measures are planned for the entire Jubilee, with 700 units of the police force operating every day in addition to those already on duty. For today's event at St. Peter's, a massive security device has been put in place by the police headquarters. The entire area around the Vatican will be super-guarded, and security sweeps began yesterday. Dog teams, bomb squads and snipers are also in the field. Controls with metal detectors to access St. Peter's Square. Anti-drone devices supplied by the armed forces and retractable anti-kamikaze pillars will be deployed.

Entering instead into the more strictly religious spirit of this Holy Year, which Pope Francis wanted to dedicate to "hope", was the pontiff himself: "Jubilees are precious moments to take stock of our lives, both as individuals and as communities. They are also occasions for reflection, recollection and listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today," he wrote on X.

Francesco cooled

Pope Francis has been cold for days. In the last meetings his voice has been strained. Yesterday the Angelus was exceptionally broadcast from Casa Santa Marta.

The opening of the Holy Door

The appointment is for 7pm in the atrium of the basilica where Francis, after a very streamlined liturgy (a song, a prayer and a short passage from the Gospel) will approach the Holy Door to open it. A platform has already been positioned to avoid the steps, both if he proceeds on foot with the help of a cane (or leaning on the arm of the master of ceremonies), and if he chooses instead to approach as close as possible with his wheelchair. Then, after the Pontiff, some concelebrants and about fifty faithful representing the world, from Iran to Nigeria, will pass through the door. The Italian authorities will be represented by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Christmas Mass first event of the Holy Year

Immediately afterwards, Pope Francis will celebrate the Christmas Mass, which thus becomes the first event of the Holy Year. Seven thousand people are expected in the basilica, but it is likely that thousands more will follow the mass in the square from the big screens.

The Appointments

In the course of 2025 more than thirty million pilgrims will arrive in Rome, at least according to the forecasts; among the most awaited events "the Youth Jubilee: there is such a ferment that we estimate the participation of more than a million young people from all over the world - reports Monsignor Rino Fisichella, the Pope's delegate for the Holy Year -. The Jubilee of Teenagers will also be a great event". The first will be held at the end of July, the other at the end of April.