The Pope shares a Christmas message, marking the beginning of the Holy Year 2025 for Catholics around the world

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

Crossing the Holy Door is one way the faithful can receive absolution, or forgiveness of sins, during the Jubilee, a tradition that occurs once every quarter century and dates back to the year 1300. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first to enter through it. Inaugurating the Jubilee 2025, which he dedicated to hope.

The pilgrims were subjected to security supervision before entering the Sacred Gate, amid new security concerns following a fatal incident Christmas market attack In Germany. Many stopped to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross as they entered the cathedral dedicated to St. Peter, the founder of the Roman Catholic Church.

Inside is Jamal A Newly restored St. Peter’s Basilica It was unveiled after extensive restoration work was carried out in preparation for the Jubilee Year.

One of the most important restorations is Bernini’s umbrellathe umbrella you are sitting on top of Tomb of Saint Peterremoving centuries of dirt to display its brilliant golden color. The Chair of St. Peter, an important symbol of papal authority dating back to 875 AD, was also restored.

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

Reuters reported that the Pope said from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below: “Let the sound of weapons be silenced in the war-torn areas.” Ukraine!

He urged negotiations between Ukraine and Russia “To achieve a just and lasting peace” and end the war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the full-scale invasion of Moscow more than two years ago. The conflict did not stop during the holiday, as Russia implemented what it called… A “large-scale strike” targeting energy facilities In Ukraine on Christmas Day.

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

In his message on Wednesday, the Pope said the Jubilee Year should be a time “for every individual, all peoples and nations… to be pilgrims of hope, to silence the voice of weapons and to overcome divisions.”

Christmas and Hanukkah coincide, which is rare

HanukkahThe eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights begins this year on Christmas Day, which has happened only four times since 1900.

The confluence of calendars has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as a Chikanuka party last week hosted by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, which brought together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities to eat latkes, the traditional potato pancake eaten on Hanukkah. Topped with guacamole and salsa.

While Hanukkah is intended to be an upbeat, celebratory holiday, the rabbis noted that it is being held this year. Wars are raging in the Middle East Concerns are growing about widespread incidents of anti-Semitism. The holidays rarely overlap because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and does not coincide with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on December 25. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005.

Germany’s celebrations were muted after the market attack

German celebrations overshadowed A Car attack on the Christmas market In the city of Magdeburg on Friday, which 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 sadness, pain, horror and incomprehension about what happened in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hatred and violence must not have the last word.”

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor, who has been practicing medicine in Germany since 2006, was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. Suspect X’s account describes him as a former Muslim and is full of anti-Islamic themes. He criticized the authorities for failing to combat the “Islamization of Germany” and expressed his support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party.

Reuters contributed to the reporting.