Pope Francis inaugurated the Holy Year 2025 on Tuesdaykicking off a Catholic Church celebration that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and test the pontiff’s stamina and the Eternal City’s ability to receive them.
At the beginning of the Christmas Eve Mass, Francis opened the great Holy Door at the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica. The ceremony inaugurates the jubilee tradition that is celebrated every 25 years, in which the Catholic faithful make pilgrimages to Rome.
Francis arrived at the atrium of the basilica where a ramp had been placed in front of the Holy Door to allow access to the wheelchair in which the pontiff moves due to his knee problems and after the prayers and readings he approached and, always sitting, he knocked three times and the door opened and he walked through it in total silence.
Francis has dedicated the Jubilee of 2025 to the theme of esperanzaand will underscore that message when he opens a Holy Door on Thursday at Rome’s Rebibbia prison, in an effort to give inmates hope for a better future. Francis has long incorporated prison ministry into his priestly vocation and has made several visits to Rebibbia and other prisons during his travels.
Security around the Vatican was high following the attack at a Christmas market last week in Germany, the Interior Ministry said.
Italian authorities used additional police patrols and camera surveillance in Rome, while metal detectors and other security checks were implemented to access St. Peter’s Square through a passage reinforced by police barricades.
Francisco, who turned 88 last week, He entered the week of Christmas and the launch of the Jubilee with a cold that forced him to give his weekly Sunday blessing from inside. His health and resistance, already compromised by his tendency to contract bronchitis, are a concern given the rigorous schedule of events during the Holy Year.
One of the highlights will be the canonization of internet-savvy teenager Carlo Acutis, considered the first saint of the millennial and digital era, during the Jubilee dedicated to teenagers in April.
This week, following Christmas Eve Mass on Tuesday night, Francis will deliver his annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address on Christmas Day from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday. In addition to the visit to Rebibbia, you will celebrate New Year’s Eve and a mass on New Year’s Day.
The city of Rome faces the Jubilee with some apprehension. It has endured two years of traffic-clogged public works to improve transportation, hospital emergency rooms and other vital services, testing residents’ patience.
But only about a third of the 323 projects have been completed, and the city is already suffering under the weight of overtourism. Visitors have returned to Italy in droves following COVID-19, and the explosion of short-term vacation rentals has exacerbated a housing crisis.
Some of Rome’s most treasured monuments have recently reopened, including the Trevi Fountain. And the main Jubilee project was finished just in time: a pedestrian plaza connecting Castel Sant’Angelo with Via della Conciliazione, the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square, was inaugurated on Monday.
Vatican officials insist that Rome has a tradition of welcoming pilgrims and point to how previous Jubilees have left their mark on the urban and spiritual landscape of the Eternal City. The Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV for the Jubilee of 1475, and the Vatican’s great garage was built for the Jubilee of 2000 under the papacy of John Paul II.
Pope Boniface VII called the first Holy Year in 1300, and in recent times they are generally celebrated every 25 to 50 years. Pilgrims who participate can obtain “indulgences” — related to the forgiveness of sins.
Francis declared a special Jubilee in 2015-2016 dedicated to mercy and the next one is planned for 2033 to commemorate the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion.
The last regular Jubilee was in 2000, when John Paul II inaugurated the third millennium of the Church. The previous one, in 1975, was notable because Pope Paul VI was almost hit by falling plaster when he opened the Holy Door. The door was still behind a false wall and Pablo had used a ceremonial hammer to knock it three times to open it. Now, the false wall is removed well in advance.
(AP)
