Pope Francis is set to open the Holy Year of the Catholic
Church in St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening.
The 88-year-old pontiff in a solemn ceremony on Christmas
Eve will open the Holy Door, which is otherwise walled up from the inside, and
pass through it.
T
he Catholic Church normally
celebrates a Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee Year, every 25 years.
The belief of the Catholics has it that believers can gain
forgiveness of their sins through prayer and penance during a Holy Year.
This also includes a pilgrimage to Rome and passing through
Holy Doors in the Eternal City.
Catholics can obtain a special grace known as a plenary
indulgence, which removes all temporal punishment for sin if requirements are
met.
More than 30 million pilgrims and visitors are expected in
the Italian capital during the Catholic event, with some estimates as high as
45 million
The Pope will then celebrate the traditional Christmas mass,
ringing in the Vatican’s Christmas festivities.
He is expected to use the services to speak out forcefully
against war and violence and remember the suffering of the people.
The pontiff recently called for a Christmas truce in the
face of the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
In Bethlehem, traditionally the birthplace of Jesus Christ,
the festivities are expected to be rather subdued this year due to the Gaza
war.
The procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the midnight
mass in Bethlehem are to take place as usual.
However, festive decorations in the small town in the West
Bank and the lighting of a Christmas tree in front of the Church of the
Nativity are to be avoided.
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