VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, launching what he called a "Jubilee of Hope."
As the doors opened, the bells of the basilica began to peal.
After the reading of a brief passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus describes himself as "the door," Pope Francis briefly left the atrium of the basilica, creating some confusion. But when the cardinals in the front row sat down, the others did likewise.
Three minutes later, the pope returned. He was pushed in his wheelchair up the ramp to the Holy Door. In silence, he raised himself from the chair to knock five times, and aides inside slowly opened the door, which had been framed in a garland of green pine branches, decorated with red roses and gold pinecones.
Opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica has been a fixture of the Catholic Church's celebration of jubilee years since the Holy Year 1450, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis chose "Pilgrims of Hope" as the theme for the Holy Year 2025, which began Dec. 24 and will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
The rite of opening the decorated bronze door began inside the basilica with the reading in different languages of biblical passages prophesying the birth of the savior "who brings his kingdom of peace into our world," as the lector explained.
Then, to emphasize how the birth of Jesus "proclaims the dawn of hope in our world," the Gospel of St. Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus was proclaimed.
Introduced with a blare of trumpets, the choir sang, "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord."
"The steps we now take are the steps of the whole church, a pilgrim in the world and a witness of peace," the pope told the assembled cardinals, bishops, ecumenical guests and lay faithful in the atrium of the basilica.
"Holding fast to Christ, the rock of our salvation, enlightened by his word and renewed by his grace," the pope continued, "may we cross the threshold of this holy temple and so enter into a season of mercy and forgiveness in which every man and woman may encounter and embrace the path of hope, which does not disappoint."
Echoing the biblical jubilee themes of reconciliation and forgiveness, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would soften hardened hearts so that "enemies may speak to each other again, adversaries may join hands and people seek to meet together."
"Grant that the church may bear faithful witness to your love and may shine forth as a vital sign of the blessed hope of your kingdom," he prayed.
Normally the Holy Door, to the right of the basilica's center doors, remains sealed with bricks, a symbolic reminder of the barrier of sin between people and God. The 16 panels on the bronze doors illustrate key moments in salvation history, including the fall of Adam and Eve, the annunciation of Jesus' birth, Christ presented as the shepherd rescuing a lost sheep, the crucifixion and the risen Jesus appearing to the disciples.
Ten children from 10 different countries, holding hands with their parents, crossed the threshold after the pope and the altar servers, but before the cardinals and bishops. Then 54 people from 27 nations -- including the United States and Canada, Australia, Tanzania and Togo, Venezuela and Vietnam -- passed through. Many of them wore the traditional dress of their nations or ethnic groups.
Following the rite, Francis celebrated a 7:30 Christmas Eve vigil Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican press office said 6,000 people were inside and, as the pope opened the Holy Door, some 25,000 people were in the square. Dozens of priests went outside to distribute Communion to them during the Mass.
"The infinitely great has made himself tiny; divine light has shone amid the darkness of our world; the glory of heaven has appeared on earth -- how? -- as a little child," the pope said in his homily at the Mass. "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! Hope does not disappoint."
Adding to his prepared text, the pope told people, "There is much desolation in the world right now. Think of the wars, of the children gunned down, of the bombs falling on schools and hospitals," references that he has applied to both Russia's war on Ukraine and Israel's actions in Gaza.
Hope is not indifferent but requires courage, he said. It means not being afraid to "speak out against evil and the injustices perpetrated at the expense of the poor."
Christian hope, "while inviting us to wait patiently for the kingdom to grow and spread," he said, "also requires of us, even now, to be bold in our anticipation of the fulfilment of the Lord's promise, to be responsible and not only, but to be compassionate."
"Tonight, God speaks to each of us and says: there is hope also for you," the pope said in his homily. To receive that gift of hope, all that is needed is to set out, like the shepherds of Bethlehem did, to meet Jesus.
"For Christians hope is not a 'happy ending' which we passively await -- it's not the happy ending of a film -- but rather, a promise, the Lord's promise, to be welcomed here and now in our world of suffering and sighs," Pope Francis said.
The offer of hope requires a response, he said. God asks people not to "wallow in mediocrity or laziness," but to notice when things are wrong and try to change them.
"Hope calls us to become pilgrims in search of truth, dreamers who never tire, women and men open to being challenged by God's dream, which is the dream of a new world where peace and justice reign," Pope Francis said.
The Holy Year, he said, "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: A jubilee for our mother Earth, disfigured by profiteering; a time of jubilee for the poorer countries burdened beneath unfair debts; a time of jubilee for all those who are in bondage to forms of slavery old and new."
