This is the night when God tells everyone: there is hope for you too, proclaimed Pope Francis during the midnight mass in St. Peter's Basilica. In his homily, he spoke extensively about bringing hope. It is needed – he pointed out – “where life is wounded, in betrayed expectations, in shattered dreams, in failures that tear the heart.” Before the mass, the Holy Father opened the Holy Door of the basilica in a symbolic gesture, inaugurating with this gesture the Holy Year in the Church announced every 25 years.
Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in the Vatican Basilica on Christmas Eve, with this gesture inaugurating the Holy Year (also called the Jubilee) in the Church. It will be held under the slogan “Pilgrims of Hope”. In a symbolic act, the Pope, sitting in a wheelchair, opened the gates. Then he was the first to cross the threshold of the Holy Door.
This is what the Holy Door looks like when it was solemnly opened by the PopePAP/EPA/REMO CASILLI / POOL
The ceremony in the vestibule of St. Peter's Basilica was attended by dignitaries from Vaticanas well as representatives of other Christian churches who also passed through the Holy Door. This was also done by 54 believers from 27 countries on all continents.
About 25,000 believers gathered in St. Peter's Square, watched the inauguration on large screens and later participated in the mass. The Prime Minister also attended the event Italian Giorgio Meloni. Extraordinary security measures are in place in the Vatican area. They were additionally raised after the recent terrorist attack in Magdeburg Germany.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the ceremony in the VaticanPAP/EPA/ALBERTO PIZZOLI / POOL
Thousands of believers gathered in front of the Vatican basilicaPAP/EPA/ETTORE FERRARI
The First Holy Year was proclaimed in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. Initially, it took place every 100 years, then every 50 years, and from the 15th century it was announced every 25 years. The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 began on Christmas Eve a quarter of a century ago John Paul II.
“Pilgrims of light in the darkness of the world.” The Pope's call
After this solemn celebration, Francis presided over midnight mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Referring to the slogan “Pilgrims of Hope”, he said that we need to find lost hope on a suffering Earth, shaken by wars and violence. He called on believers to be “pilgrims of light in the darkness of the world.” – Divine light shone amidst the darkness of the world. The glory of heaven appeared on Earth, in the littleness of the Child, he said in his homily. He emphasized that “hope is not dead, hope is alive and covers our lives forever, hope does not disappoint.”
He said that the inauguration of the Holy Year “is the night when the doors of hope opened wide to the world.” – This is the night when God tells everyone: there is hope for you too – he added. – To accept this gift, we are invited to set out on a journey with the wonder of the shepherds from Bethlehem – he explained.
As the pope noted, this is an indication to “find the lost hope again, renew it within ourselves, sow it in the wastelands of our times and our world.”
Francis in Saint Peter's BasilicaPAP/EPA/REMO CASILLI / POOL
What is hope?
Francis recalled wars, killed children and bombed schools. He assessed that Christian hope is not a “happy ending for which we must idly wait.” Instead, he pointed out, it is “a promise of the Lord that must be accepted here and now, on this suffering and groaning Earth.”
– That's why she asks us not to procrastinate, not to get caught up in habits, not to persist in mediocrity and laziness. He demands from us – as Saint Augustine would say – that we be outraged by what is wrong and have the courage to change it. It asks us to become pilgrims in search of truth, tireless dreamers, he continued.
Holy Mass in St. Peter's BasilicaPAP/EPA/FABIO FRUSTACI
We must – said the Holy Father – live the dream of a new world where peace and justice reign.
He emphasized that the hope that is born on this night “does not tolerate the laziness of those leading an established lifestyle and the indolence of those who settle in their own comforts” and “does not recognize the false prudence of those who do not take up challenges for fear of embarrassment and calculation by those what they think only of themselves.”
This hope, he said, requires boldness and is incompatible with the peaceful life of those who “do not protest against evil and injustice committed at the expense of the poorest.”
“In betrayed expectations, in shattered dreams, in failures”
As Francis said, the Holy Year calls for spiritual renewal and commits to transforming the world to truly make it a time of hope and Jubilee.
– Let it be so for our mother Earth, disfigured by the logic of profit. Let it be the same for the poorest countries burdened with unjust debts. Let it be like this for all those who are prisoners of old and new captivity, he appealed.
He argued that for everyone the Holy Year is a gift and an obligation to bring hope where it has been lost. – Where life is wounded, in betrayed expectations, in shattered dreams, in failures that tear the heart – he added.
Hope is also needed – he claimed – “in the weariness of those who can no longer cope, in the bitter loneliness of those who feel defeated, in the suffering that gnaws at the soul, in the long and empty days of prisoners, in the narrow and cold rooms of the poor, in places desecrated by war and violence. – The Holy Year begins to give everyone hope, he emphasized.
On Christmas Day, the Pope will deliver a Christmas message at noon and give the Urbi et Orbi blessing, i.e. to the city and the world.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/REMO CASILLI / POOL