Pope shares Christmas message, marking start of the 2025 Holy Year for Catholics worldwide

Pilgrims lined up early Wednesday to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as Christmas marked the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.

Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first to enter through it, inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee that he dedicated to hope.

Pilgrims submitted to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amid new security fears following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany. Many paused to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross upon entering the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, founder of the Roman Catholic Church.

Inside, the beauty of a newly restored St. Peter’s Basilica was revealed after extensive restoration work was undertaken in preparation for the Jubilee Year.

One of the most significant restorations is of Bernini’s Baldachin, a canopy that sits atop the tomb of St. Peter, removing centuries of grime to showcase its gleaming gold finish. Also restored was the Chair of St. Peter, an important symbol of papal authority dating back to 875 AD.

At noon local time, Francis delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and the World” address — focusing on challenges facing the world this year.

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 arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine!” He called for “gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order 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 Moscow’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago. The conflict did not pause for the holiday, as Russia carried out what it called a “massive strike” targeting energy facilities in Ukraine on Christmas Day.

Pope Francis also renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, calling  the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “extremely grave,” and urged the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

In his message Wednesday, the pope said the Jubilee Year should be a time for “every individual, and all peoples and nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions.”

Christmas and Hanukkah coincide, a rare occurrence

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.

The calendar confluence has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as a 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 on Hanukkah, topped with guacamole and salsa.

While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it’s taking place this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears rise over widespread incidents of antisemitism. The holidays overlap infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005.

Germany’s celebrations muted after market attack

German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hate and violence must not have the last word.”

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had practiced medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim and is filled with anti-Islamic themes. He criticized authorities for failing to combat “the Islamification of Germany” and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Reuters news agency contributed reporting.