Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass and opened the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, emphasizing hope and urging developed nations to alleviate debt burdens on low-income countries. The Holy Year, a time of peace, forgiveness, and pardon, is expected to draw 32 million tourists to Rome.
Pope Francis said the story of Jesus’ birth as a poor carpenter’s son should instil hope that all people can make an impact on the world, as the pontiff led the world’s Roman Catholics into Christmas.
Pope Francis opens the Holy Door to mark the opening of the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, in St Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican on Christmas Eve.In a sermon focused on the virtue of hope, which is also the theme of the Holy Year, the pontiff said hope “is a summons not to tarry, to be kept back by our old habits, or to wallow in mediocrity or laziness”.
A Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. It occurs every 25 years. Pilgrims coming to Rome during the year can obtain special indulgences, or remission of their sins. This Jubilee will run through to January 6, 2026.At the beginning of the Christmas Eve ceremony, Francis oversaw the opening of a special bronze-panelled “Holy Door” at St Peter’s, only opened during Jubilee years.
Pope Francis Catholic Holy Year Jubilee Hope Debt Forgiveness
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