Jubilee 2025: Rome expects over 30 million pilgrims during Holy Year

With roughly €4 billion in investments and more than a thousand construction sites, Rome is racing against the clock ahead of the 2025 Catholic Holy Year – a tradition dating back to 1300, inviting millions of pilgrims to the Eternal City for a journey of faith, reflection, and renewal.

Pope Francis will officially inaugurate the Jubilee on Christmas Eve at 7pm, when he pushes open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Over 30 million pilgrims expected in Rome for the Jubilee

The Dicastery for Evangelisation, who are in charge of organising the Jubilee, expect roughly 30 to 32 million pilgrims to pass through Rome during the Holy Year, which will end on 6 January 2026.

Of course, with so many people expected to visit, security is a priority. Rome’s mayor has promised heightened security measures, including extra police and high-tech surveillance, to keep pilgrims safe after recent concerns over attacks at European holiday markets.

To the faithful who make the pilgrimage to the Italian capital, the Pope grants ‘plenary indulgence’. An indulgence is a special grace of the Catholic Church designed to remove the “temporal” punishment of sin – a kind of spiritual ‘clean slate’.

What is the Jubilee?

“The Jubilee was born in the 1300s as a people’s event, understood as a time of forgiveness of sins, which does not leave out any aspect of personal, community and social life,” explains Don Francesco Scalzotto, official of the Dicastery for Evangelisation.

“The event also recovers the ancient tradition of the biblical Jubilee, which was a time of liberation, peace and social bonds,” Fr Scalzotto added.

The first Jubilee was instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. Since then, it has become a regular event in the Catholic Church. The Jubilee is generally celebrated every 25 years, with some exceptions for extraordinary Jubilees proclaimed for special occasions.

2025 marks Pope Francis’ second ordinary Jubilee. It comes after the last extraordinary Jubilee was held in 2015, which was announced on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council and was dedicated to Mercy.

For this year’s Holy Year, Pope Francis has chosen the theme of hope – a topic he believes is of particular pertinence to contemporary society.

According to Fr Scalzotto, “there is a great need for hope and this is the theme placed at the centre of the Jubilee journey: hope that is rooted first and foremost in the Lord who died and rose again for us and that must be lived out in a ‘contagious’ manner by all Christians”.

What’s on?

But it’s not all just sacred rituals and historical significance. The Holy Year calendar is packed with vibrant events designed for everyone – from artists to teachers, and the armed forces to volunteers.

All information about the celebrations is available on the official Jubilee web portal. On the website, pilgrims can register for Jubilee events, activate their account and receive a digital card, pilgrim card, and an identification QR code.

A few hundred metres from St Peter’s Basilica, in Via della Conciliazione 7, an infopoint is open and serves as “the first reception point where pilgrims can find answers to their questions,” said Fr Scalzotto.

The first stages of the Holy Year, and a focus on prisons

The Pontiff will officially inaugurate the Holy Year with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Papal Basilica on Christmas Eve at 7pm, which will stay open throughout the year. The opening of the door will then be followed by the celebration of the Holy Mass inside the Basilica. The event can be followed via giant screens installed in St. Peter’s Square.

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No tickets are required to attend the celebration from St. Peter’s Square, but attendees should register for the event through the Portal of the official Jubilee website.

In line with tradition, pilgrims can earn indulgences by visiting holy sites like the four papal basilicas in Rome or participating in acts of charity, such as caring for the sick or visiting prisoners. This year, Pope Francis has made an intentional focus on prisoners, even planning to open a second Holy Door at Rome’s Rebibbia prison as part of a message of redemption and hope.

In light of the Jubilee’s theme of “hope”, the Pontiff calls for dignified conditions for those who are “deprived of freedom”* and who “experience every day, in addition to the harshness of imprisonment, the emotional void, the restrictions imposed and, in not a few cases, the lack of respect.”

On 29 December, the Pope will open the Holy Door of St John Lateran, the basilica that is the “Mother and Head of all the Churches of the City and the World.” The opening of the door will commence the Jubilee celebrations in the various dioceses around the world that are preparing to live the Holy Year in communion with the Church of Rome.

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