Pilgrims lined up early on Wednesday to walk through the grand Porta Santa at the entrance to St Peter’s Basilica as Christmas marked the start of the expected Holy Year 2025 celebration which brings to Rome some 32 million faithful Catholics.
Passing through the Holy Door is one way the faithful can obtain indulgences, or the forgiveness of sins during a Jubilee, a quarter-century tradition dating back to the year 1300. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis called the door and was the first to enter it, inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee that he dedicated to hope.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
Pilgrims undergo security checks before entering the Holy Gate amid fresh security fears after a fatal shooting Attack on the Christmas market in Germany Many stopped to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross as they entered the basilica dedicated to Saint Peter, founder of the Roman Catholic Church.
Inside, the beauty of a the recently restored Saint Peter’s Basilica it was revealed after extensive restoration work in preparation for the Jubilee Year.
One of the most significant restorations is of Bernini’s canopya canopy that sits on top the tomb of Saint Peterremoving centuries of grime to reveal its shiny golden finish. The Chair of Saint Peter, an important symbol of papal authority dating from 875 AD, was also restored.
At noon local time, Francis delivered the traditional speech “Urbi et Orbi” – “To the city and to the world” – focusing on the challenges facing the world this year.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, the pope said: “May the sound of weapons be silenced in war. Ukraine!” He asked for “gestures of dialogue and meeting, to achieve a just and lasting peace”.
He called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war that has killed tens of thousands since the full-scale invasion of Moscow more than two years ago. The conflict did not stop for the holiday, as Russia carried out what it called a “massive strike” aimed at energy facilities in Ukraine on Christmas Day.
Pope Francis also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas warcalling the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “extremely serious” and urged the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
In his message on Wednesday, the Pope said the Jubilee Year should be a time for “all individuals, and all peoples and nations … to become pilgrims of hope, silence the sound of weapons and overcome divisions”.
Christmas and Hanukkah coincide, a rare occurrence
HanukkahJudaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has happened only four times since 1900.
The confluence of the calendar has inspired some religious leaders to organize interfaith gatherings, such as a Chicanukah party hosted last week by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, bringing together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for latkes, the traditional potato pancake eaten at Hanukkah. , topped with guacamole and salsa.
Although Hanukkah is meant to be a joyous and celebratory holiday, the rabbis point out that it will take place this year as wars break out in the Middle East and fears are raised by widespread incidents of anti-Semitism. The holidays rarely overlap because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is out of sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on December 25. The last time Chanukah started on Christmas Day was in 2005.
Germany’s celebrations were muted after the market attack
German celebrations were dimmed for Car attack at a Christmas market Friday in Magdeburg that left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what happened in Magdeburg”. He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hatred and violence must not have the last word.”
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had been practicing medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. Suspect X’s account describes him as a former Muslim and is full of anti-Islamic themes. He has criticized the authorities for not fighting “the Islamization of Germany” and has expressed his support for the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Reuters news agency contributed to this report.