On the eve of Christmas, Pope Francis will open, Tuesday, December 24, the Holy Year 2025 of the Catholic Church, a great international pilgrimage for which more than 30 million faithful from all over the world are expected in Rome.
At the beginning of the evening, at 7 p.m., in the presence of nearly 30,000 people, the Argentine Jesuit will open the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican, symbolizing the inauguration of this ordinary Jubilee, before preside over Christmas Eve mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Throughout the year, pilgrims will be able to pass through this heavy bronze door, walled up in ordinary times, in order to receive the plenary indulgence, the forgiveness of sins according to tradition.
Established in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII and organized every twenty-five years, the Jubilee is intended as a time of conversion and penance for the faithful and is accompanied by a long list of cultural and religious events – masses, exhibitions, conferences, concerts. The last ordinary Jubilee, organized in the year 2000 under John Paul II, brought together 25 million people.
A mass in a prison in Rome
The opening of the Holy Door will be followed in the coming days by those of the three other major basilicas of Rome (St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran) and thousands others in churches across the globe. Faithful to his attachment to the marginalized, Francis will celebrate this tradition on Thursday in the Roman prison of Rebibbia, where he will preside over a mass as a sign of closeness with the inmates.
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Furthermore, the sovereign pontiff will give his traditional urbi et orbi blessing (“to the city and to the world”) at midday on Wednesday. He should on this occasion provide an overview of conflicts in the world and renew his calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East, three days after his criticism against the “cruelty” strikes in Gaza, which sparked protests from Israeli diplomacy.
After the deadly attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg in Germany which left five people dead, security was reinforced around the Vatican. Some 700 additional agents have been deployed to Rome, the Italian Interior Ministry announced.
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