Originally published at National Catholic Register
It’s beginning to look a lot like a Jubilee, as the Vatican and Rome rush to put the final touches on preparations before Pope Francis will break open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24.
The city of Rome has invested more than 4.8 billion euros ($5 billion) in more than 600 projects to prepare the Eternal City for a year expected to draw 32 million visitors. But with the majority of work still unfinished, and 2025 on the doorstep, the sounds of construction may mix with Christmas carols.
In addition to several massive restoration projects — such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s bronze baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica, newly unveiled — the Vatican has planned a calendar bursting with spiritual, cultural and artistic events for the more-than-700-year-old tradition linked to special graces for pilgrims.
Some of the biggest events of the Jubilee of Hope will be the canonizations of Blessed Carlo Acutis, during the Jubilee of Teenagers on April 27, and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, during the Jubilee of Young People on April 3, and the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly, on the weekend of May 30-June 1.
Priests, religious, artists, athletes and Catholic
