Pope Francis opens Holy Door to begin the Year of Jubilee

More than 30,000 ‘pilgrims of hope’ are expected to travel to Rome for the Jubilee next year

Pope Francis has opened the sacred portal at St Peter’s in Rome marking the beginning of the Jubilee, with the theme Pilgrims of Hope.

Pope Francis went on to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter’s. The door, which remains sealed in between Jubilees, which normally take place every 25 years, will remain open throughout 2025 for pilgrims to pass through, thereby being granted the indulgence associated with the holy year.

An exception to the 25-year rule was in 2015 when Pope Francis declared an extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

In Rome this week, he will on 26 December will open a sacred portal in Rebibbia New Complex Prison, which he visited in 2015 for the Easter foot washing ritual. He will go on to open three more sacred portals at other basilicas in Rome.

In his homily, Pope Francis said: “Brothers and sisters, with the opening of the Holy Door we have inaugurated a new Jubilee, and each of us can enter into the mystery of this extraordinary event. Tonight, the door of hope has opened wide to the world. Tonight, God speaks to each of us and says: there is hope also for you! There is hope for each of us. And do not forget, sisters and brothers, that God forgives everything, God always forgives. Do not forget this, which is a way of understanding hope in the Lord.”

He indicated a focus during the Jubilee will be on debt cancellation: “Sisters and brothers, this is the Jubilee. This is the season of hope in which we are invited to rediscover the joy of meeting the Lord. The Jubilee calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of our world, so that this year may truly become a time of jubilation. A jubilee for our mother Earth, disfigured by profiteering; a time of jubilee for the poorer countries burdened beneath unfair debts; a time of jubilee for all those who are in bondage to forms of slavery old and new.”

Hope and the Jubilee Year

Year of hope – Joanna Moorhead anticipates the Jubilee

Cafod is urging people during the Jubilee “to experience the joy and strength in coming together as we respond to God’s call for a reset, a renewal of faith and a recommitment to a just world”. Cafod has published an online guide to the Jubilee and is offering webinars and other activities to help schools, parishes and other communities get involved. “Traditionally, a Jubilee year is a time to address inequality, restore the land and cancel debts. As we begin Jubilee 2025, we’re facing the most acute global debt crisis in history,” said Cafod, calling for debt cancellation.

Meanwhile (CNA reports), the head of the Vatican’s office for Eastern Catholic Churches has offered a stark assessment of the situation facing Christians in the Holy Land and Syria, warning of increasing instability and humanitarian challenges across the region.

“They need everything and we cannot give anything,” Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain and now prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, told EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser.

“Look at the Gaza Strip. Who is entering when the bombs are falling? People are starving.”

The Italian cardinal, who maintains daily contact with bishops in the region, expressed particular concern about Syria’s future amid shifting political dynamics following the ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

“Assad has of course created numerous problems. However, he was open to working with minorities,” Gugerotti, pictured above by EWTN, said. “We will see in the coming months what is going to happen.”

The cardinal noted that new power groups emerging in Syria include former members of Al-Qaeda and ISIS. However, he highlighted how local Church leaders are working to establish a dialogue with these groups, particularly through Bishop Hanna Jallouf in Aleppo.

“He understands these new groups in power quite well. He has become a kind of bridge between the Church and these groups, and some of them accepted to go and speak to him about their intentions toward the Catholics,” the cardinal told EWTN News.

Gugerotti warned that without international cooperation, the situation could deteriorate further. “If the United States, Russia, Iran, Israel, and all the others, Turkey in particular, if they cannot find a common language or at least share some basic principles, we will see further division, further destruction.”

The ongoing instability has accelerated the exodus of Christians from the region, according to the cardinal. He explained that Christians, who often have higher education and international connections, can more easily integrate into Western societies.

“It is a problem for us because they lose their own identity,” he said. The dicastery is working with Latin-rite bishops to preserve these communities’ Eastern Catholic identity in the diaspora, he said, hoping they might eventually return to their homelands.

The cardinal also expressed concern about broader regional destabilization, suggesting conflicts could spread beyond their current boundaries. “If a bomb falls outside the war zone, it could mean that the day after everyone will be involved,” he warned.

Despite these challenges, Gugerotti highlighted the Eastern Churches’ strong religious identity as a positive element. “Wherever they go, they are a model, an example for everybody, for all the other Christians, because they are very solid in their faith,” he said.

The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches oversees the Catholic Churches of the Eastern traditions in communion with Rome, including those in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa. The office also administers the annual worldwide Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land.

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