VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis officially inaugurated the Holy Year 2025 on Tuesday, reviving a long-standing church tradition and encouraging the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome, amid new security fears after an attack on Germany’s Christmas market.
At the start of Mass on Christmas Eve, Francis will push open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which will remain open all year round to allow passage of the estimated 32 million pilgrims expected to visit Rome.
The first Holy Year was proclaimed in 1300 and in recent times they have generally been celebrated every 25 to 50 years. Pilgrims who participate can obtain “indulgences” – the centuries-old mark of the Catholic Church related to the forgiveness of sins, which roughly amounts to a “Get out of Purgatory for Free” card.
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The last regular anniversary was in 2000, when John Paul II inaugurated the church’s third millennium. Francis proclaimed a special jubilee dedicated to mercy in 2015-2016, and the next planned jubilee is in 2033, to commemorate the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion.
What are indulgences?
According to church teaching, Catholics who confess their sins are forgiven and thereby released from the eternal or spiritual punishment of damnation. An indulgence is intended to remove any “temporary” punishment of sin that may still be there – the consequence of the wrongdoing that could disrupt the sinner’s relationships with others.
Martin Luther’s opposition to the church’s practice of selling indulgences inspired him to launch the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. He was excommunicated and the practice of buying and selling indulgences has been illegal since the Council of Trent in 1562. But its award has continued and is an important part of the pilgrimages surrounding the Holy Year.
According to the norms issued for the 2025 Jubilee, Catholics can obtain an indulgence if they:
– Undertake a pious pilgrimage, participating in Masses and other sacraments, to one of the four papal basilicas in Rome or the Holy Land, or other holy jubilee sites “to manifest the great need for conversion and reconciliation.”
– Participate in acts of charity, mercy or penance, such as visiting prisoners, the sick or the elderly or undertaking corporal works of mercy “to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the prisoners and bury the dead.”
– In a spirit of penance, abstain for at least one day of the week from ‘useless distractions’, such as social media, or from ‘superfluous consumption’, such as fasting; or donating the proportionate amount to the poor or to help migrants.
Why the focus on prisoners?
Francis has long made ministering to prisoners a hallmark of his priestly vocation, and a Holy Year dedicated to a message of hope is no exception.
The only other Holy Door that Francis will personally open this year is in the chapel of Rome’s Rebibbia prison, drawing attention to the need to give hope, especially to prisoners, for a better future.
The last major event of the Holy Year before its conclusion on January 6, 2026 is the Jubilee of the Prisoners on December 14, 2025.
What’s on the calendar?
The anniversary calendar is a dizzying compilation of official and unofficial events in the Holy Year that will severely test the endurance of Francis, who just turned 88 and entered the Christmas period with a cold that made it difficult for him to catch his breath.
Every month there are two, three or four official anniversary events that Francis is expected to attend and which are intended for certain categories of people: the armed forces, artists, priests, poor people, volunteers and teachers. Then there are the unofficial anniversary events, where individual dioceses and other groups have organized their own pilgrimages to Rome.
One item on the unofficial anniversary calendar, September 6, has made headlines because it is organized by an Italian association, “La Tenda di Gionata” or “Jonathan’s Tent,” which aims to make LGBTQ+ Catholics feel more welcome in the Catholic world. Church.
What about safety for so many people?
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri has said the security plans call for a mix of traditional policing – reportedly 700 extra officers – plus high-tech surveillance using drones and closed-circuit cameras that, thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms, can monitor the real situation. time of crowd sizes and congestion points.
“There will be more vehicles, more men, and very, very robust and important security equipment,” Gualtieri told reporters last week.
The Vatican has now tried to reduce traffic congestion for pilgrims as much as possible by allowing them to book their visits to St. Peter’s Basilica in advance.
After a driver crashed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing five people, Italian authorities last week sent a circular to police stations across the country recommending “maximum” investigative efforts and immediate suspension of surveillance and police patrols around Christmas markets and stage displays. tourist attractions.
The Vatican, with its life-size crèche and gigantic Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square and the outdoor exhibition of nativity scenes in the Bernini Colonnade surrounding it, certainly qualifies as a high-risk target.
How else does Rome prepare?
Rome is reeling from two years of intensive preparations for the Holy Year, involving major public works projects and artistic renovations, coinciding with separate initiatives paid for by the European Union’s COVID-19 recovery funds.
Less than a third of the 323 anniversary projects have been completed or are coming to an end, meaning traffic issues and problems will continue well into 2025 and even 2026. But at least the Romans and visitors are starting to see some of the finished products.
Bernini’s fountains on Piazza Navona shine white again after months of cleaning. Just this weekend, a revamped Trevi Fountain was reopened and on Monday the main anniversary project was unveiled: a pedestrian square connecting Castel St. Angelo with Via della Conciliazione, the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square.
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Associated Press religion reporting is supported by the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
