AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Today, Pope Francis opens a Holy Door at the Church of St. Paul's outside the walls. It's a part of a process that began on Christmas Eve when he knocked on a Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica.
(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING ON DOOR)
RASCOE: All this is to kick off a special Catholic event called a Jubilee year, a religious practice that dates back centuries. Millions of Catholic pilgrims are expected to visit Rome as a part of this year's jubilee. In addition to sightseeing, many will seek forgiveness for their sins by walking through Rome's Holy Doors. Claire Giangrave is Vatican correspondent for our partner organization Religion News Service, and she joins us now. Claire, welcome.
CLAIRE GIANGRAVE, BYLINE: Thank you.
RASCOE: Let's start with the basics. What is a jubilee?
GIANGRAVE: So the jubilee is essentially an anniversary. But the word jubilee comes from the Hebrew Bible, and it refers to an event that would occur every 50 years or so where slaves would be freed and all debts would be forgiven. Now, in the 1300s, we see that this custom resurfaced because a growing number of Catholic pilgrims were coming to visit Rome, and popes thought that this could be an opportunity to grant them the most full pardon of all their sins.
So why is this happening in 2025? Well, of course, it's 2,025 years since the birth of Christ. But also, Pope Francis wanted to put an emphasis on the theme of this jubilee being about hope in a world where poverty and wars continue. But the greatest moment for every jubilee is going through a Holy Door to get forgiveness for your sins.
RASCOE: Tell me more about these Holy Doors. Like, how do they work? So you walk through these doors, and your sins are forgiven?
GIANGRAVE: Well, sort of. There is a process. Believers should go to confession, and they should pray for the pope and go to mass, receive Communion. And obviously, they need to honestly repent. But then, yes. Now, the pope opened the first Holy Door on Christmas Eve, and he will open the main doors in the basilicas in Rome, including a door in a prison in Rome to allow inmates to have a chance at redemption, as well.
It's quite a ceremony. In the past, popes would get out a silver hammer and tear it down, which obviously caused a lot of mess and debris and, at times, even injuries. So an aging Pope John Paul II, during the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, said that it was enough if popes would just push the door open with their hands.
RASCOE: But there's been some controversy over granting forgiveness in this way, right?
GIANGRAVE: Absolutely. Jubilees have had cases of scandals of all types, and even Catholics in the past were dismayed by the practice of selling indulgences. Some Catholics, for example, were also dismayed by the fact that popes, at times, allowed people to forego the pilgrimage if they went on a crusade instead. In any case, indulgences and jubilee years have remained enormously popular and profitable for the Catholic Church and for the city of Rome.
RASCOE: So how is Rome preparing for all these pilgrims expected to come in 2025?
GIANGRAVE: One thing about this jubilee is that only the doors in Rome will be opened. So Francis is really encouraging Catholics to come to the eternal city. In the bull that he wrote to set off this new jubilee, he said that coming to Rome is like setting out on a journey, and it's associated with our human quest for meaning in life. Tourism experts expect 35 million pilgrims to visit the Vatican in Rome over the course of the 2025 jubilee year.
The city of Rome has invested 4.8 billion euros for over 600 projects to really change the face of the capital of Italy. Everything has been repaired and cleaned. And for those pilgrims who will cross the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, they will get a chance to see the baldachin by Renaissance artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Michelangelo's Pieta restored to their former glory.
RASCOE: That's Claire Giangrave with Religion News Service. Thank you so much, Claire.
GIANGRAVE: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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