Pope Francis opened the ‘Holy Door’ of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve on Tuesday, kickstarting the special Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has recently been suffering from a cold, was pushed in a wheelchair up to the huge, ornate bronze door and knocked on it, before the doors opened.
In a ceremony watched on screens by thousands of faithful outside in St Peter’s Square, the Argentine pontiff went through the door followed by a procession, as the bells of the Vatican basilica rang out.
Over the next 12 months, Catholic pilgrims will pass through the door – which is normally bricked up – by tradition benefiting from a ‘plenary indulgence’, a type of forgiveness for their sins.
Pope Francis also presided over the Christmas Eve mass at St Peter’s Basilica, where he once again addressed the victims of war.
‘We think of wars, of machine-gunned children, of bombs on schools and hospitals,’ he said in his homily.
The pope had drawn an angry response from Israel at the weekend for condemning the ‘cruelty’ of Israel’s strikes in Gaza that killed children.
He will deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world), at midday on Wednesday.
Pope Francis opens the Holy Door to mark the start of the 2025 Jubilee at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican
The Pope at the Christmas Eve mass, where he used a speech to refer to victims of war
Members of the clergy follow Pope Francis through the Holy Door to mark the Jubilee
Some 700 security officers are being deployed around the Vatican and Rome for the Jubilee celebrations, with measures further tightened following Friday’s car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Germany.
Organised by the Church every 25 years, the Jubilee is intended as a period of reflection and penance, and is marked by a long list of cultural and religious events, from masses to exhibitions, conferences and concerts.
The Jubilee, whose motto this year is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, is primarily aimed at the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics, but also aims to also 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.
The Jubilee 2025 mascot is named Luce (meaning Light in Latin) inspired by Japanese anime cartoons.
The event will see groups from around 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 site is 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 for ‘spiritual renewal’ and hope, including for ‘our mother Earth, disfigured by profiteering’ and ‘for the poorer countries burdened beneath unfair debts’.
The Pope drinking from a golden goblet during the Christmas Night Mass
The Jubilee, whose motto this year is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, is primarily aimed at the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics
The 88-year-old Pope was wheeled up to the Holy Door to preside over the ceremony
Pope Francis addressing the Christmas Eve mass at St Peter’s Basilica
Prelates attend the Christmas Night Mass at the Vatican on Tuesday evening
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attending the Christmas Night Mass at St Peter’s Basilica
Crowds gathered outside the basilica at St Peter’s square during the mass
The Argentine pontiff presided over the special ceremony to open the Jubilee year, during which 30 million visitors are expected to descend on the Italian capital
Much of the Italian capital has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and the Ponte Sant’Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic.
Many residents have questioned how the Eternal City – where key sites are already overcrowded and public transport is unreliable – will cope with millions more visitors next year.
Key Jubilee projects were only finished in the last few days after months of work that turned much of the city into a building site.
Inaugurating a new road tunnel at Piazza Pia next to the Vatican on Monday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it had taken a ‘little civil miracle’ to get the project finished in time.