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Pope Francis opens ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

Pope Francis opens a Holy Door, one of only five that will be open during the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, at a Rome prison. (Reuters: Vatican Media/Francesco Sforza)

In short:

Pope Francis has opened a "Holy Door" for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year at a prison, marking the first one opened at such an institution since the Jubilee tradition began in 1300.

He celebrated the Jubilee at Rome's main prison on Thursday, as part of the tradition which now takes place every 25 years.

What's next?

This Jubilee is dedicated to the theme of hope. It will run through January 6, 2026.

Pope Francis has opened a "Holy Door" for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year at a prison in Rome, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church's once-every-quarter-century celebration that is expected to bring about 32 million pilgrims to the city.

Visiting the Rebibbia prison — one of Italy's largest prison complexes — on Thursday, Pope Francis knocked on the door to its chapel and walked across the threshold, re-enacting the gesture he performed at the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica two nights earlier on Christmas Eve.

The opening of the Holy Door at the basilica officially kicked off the Jubilee year, a church tradition dating to 1300 that nowadays occurs every 25 years and involves the faithful coming to Rome on pilgrimages. 

The Vatican said the opening of the Holy Door at Rome's Rebbibia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.

Pope Francis opens 'Holy Door' for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

The pope dedicated the 2025 Jubilee to hope and made clear prisoners would be an important part of it. (AP: Andrew Medichini)

With the doors now open to the public, a steady stream of pilgrims was filing into the basilica.

"The first Holy Door I opened at Christmas in St. Peter's. I wanted the second one to be here, in a prison," the pope told the inmates before he entered. 

"I wanted each of us here, inside and out, to have the possibility of throwing open the door of our hearts and understanding that hope doesn't disappoint."

The pope opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as the Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon.

This Jubilee is dedicated to the theme of hope. It will run through January 6, 2026.

Pope Francis made clear prisoners would be an important part of the event. In Italy, prison overcrowding and inmate suicides are at record highs, according to the Antigone Association, which tracks prison conditions.

According to Antigone's 2024 report, 88 prisoners died by suicide in Italian prisons this year — more than any other year — and Italy's inmate population was 132 per cent over the system's capacity.

Pope Francis Asia-Pacific tour

Photo shows A stencil graphic shows a waving Pope Francis set above large red and white letters spelling Indonesia.

Pope Francis opens 'Holy Door' for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

While Indonesia's Catholic community is only 3 per cent of the population, it still numbers in the millions and plenty of its members will be travelling to Jakarta for the pope's four-day visit.

The pope has shown special attention for the incarcerated over the course of his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips.

Back at the Vatican for his Sunday noon blessing, Pope Francis called the prison "a cathedral of pain and hope" as he repeated his message. 

He also doubled down on his 2025 wish for peace in the world and for wealthy countries to reduce or eliminate the debt owed by poorer countries.

"One of the things that characterises Jubilees is the remission of debts," he said, calling the debts owed by many poor countries simply "unsustainable".

The 88-year-old pope, who often suffers from respiratory infections in winter, has a few days to rest before gearing up for New Year's Eve vigil and mass the following day.

2025 involves a dizzying calendar of events that will sorely test the pope's stamina, with special Jubilee Masses for all the main groups of pilgrims who are being celebrated during the year: Adolescents, migrants, teachers and law enforcement, among others.

So far, he has only one foreign trip planned: A May visit to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity's first ecumenical council.

AP/Reuters

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