In his main address, the Holy Father continued a series of talks on “Jesus Christ our hope,” which is the theme for his weekly catechesis throughout the Jubilee Year, by looking at the effect of God’s transforming power on a young Mary in Nazareth.

The Holy Year 2025 theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” is a reminder that hope “is not a habit or a character trait – that you either have or you don’t – but a strength to be asked for. That is why we make ourselves pilgrims: We come to ask for a gift, to start again on life’s journey,” Pope Francis said 11 January.

In several chapters of the book, Pope Francis directly addresses readers, includ-ing when he quotes St John Paul II’s words during the Jubilee 2000: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ!”

From 24 December 2024, when the Pope inaugurated the Holy Year, to 07 January 2025, the Vatican said, 545,532 people from around the world have made the journey along the lengthy boulevard leading to St Peter’s Square and crossed through the basilica’s Holy Door.

The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus.”

The celebration of a Holy Year every 25 years is an acknowledgment that “the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps toward the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus.”

“Those who destroy people, who make wars, what will their faces look like when they come before the Lord? ‘Why did you make that war? Why did you kill?’” God will ask, ” the Holy Father said on 24 November, the feast of Christ the King.

The Holy Father will canonise Blessed Acutis on 27 April, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome to be held from 25 to 27 April and Blessed Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome to be held from 28 July to 3 August.

Reflecting on her term, Ms Porro described her role in the Eternal City as a “great privilege,” highlighting her efforts to address critical global issues such as climate change, women’s empowerment, and equality.

In his homily, the Holy Father called on the church not to remain in a state of “blindness” to the issues in the church and the world, a blindness that can take the form of embracing worldliness, placing a premium on comfort or having a closed heart.