• Pope Francis inaugurated the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope by opening the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica.
• The Holy Door symbolizes spiritual passage and renewal, inviting all to walk in holiness.
• During the Holy Year, Pope Francis prayed for Christian hope to illuminate all, transforming them into pilgrims of hope.
• The Pope emphasized that hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever, marking the start of a year of spiritual renewal and transformation.

Pope Francis officially inaugurated the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope on the evening of December 24, 2024, by opening the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica. This significant act marked the beginning of the Ordinary Jubilee, a year-long celebration of faith and hope that will conclude with the closing of the same Holy Door on January 6, 2026. The Holy Door, a symbol of spiritual passage and renewal, is considered 'Holy' as it invites all who enter through it to walk in holiness of life.

This tradition dates back to Pope Martin V who, for the Extraordinary Jubilee of 1423, opened a Holy Door to enter the Lateran Basilica. In St. Peter's, it was first used for the Jubilee of 1450. The last opening of the Holy Door for an Ordinary Jubilee was when Pope St. John Paul II had done so in the Year 2000. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in 2015 for his 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

The Significance of the Holy Year

During the Holy Year, Pope Francis prayed for the light of Christian hope to illuminate every man and woman, as a message of God's love addressed to all. He invited the faithful to prepare themselves throughout the year, so that the Jubilee may strengthen their faith, helping them to recognize the Risen Christ in the midst of their lives, transforming them into pilgrims of Christian hope.

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel passage according to St. Luke which recounts when the angel of the Lord, bathed in light, brings glad tidings to the shepherds: 'I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord' (Lk 2:10-11). He highlighted that God has become one of us to make us like Himself; He has come down to us to lift us up and restore us to the embrace of the Father.

The Pope reiterated that in Emmanuel, 'God with us,' we find our hope. The infinitely great, he marveled, made Himself tiny and the glory of heaven appeared on earth as a little child. He continued, "If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!"

The Inauguration of the New Jubilee

With the opening of the Holy Door, the new Jubilee was inaugurated, which exhorts each one of us to enter into the mystery of this extraordinary event. Tonight, the door of hope has opened wide to the world and God speaks to each of us and says: 'there is hope also for you!' he said.

Pope Francis underscored that the Jubilee is a summons not to tarry, to be kept back by our old habits, or to wallow in mediocrity or laziness. He recalled Doctor of the Church Saint Augustine's having suggested that hope calls us to be upset with things that are wrong and to find the courage to change them. "As disciples of the Lord," the Holy Father encouraged, "we are called to find our greater hope in Him, and then, without delay, carry that hope with us, as pilgrims of light amid the darkness of this world."

The Pope reminded, this is the Jubilee. This is the season of hope in which we are invited to rediscover the joy of meeting the Lord, he stressed, adding how 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.