Before the Christmas Eve Mass, which Pope Francis presided over on the evening of December 24, he opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, marking the beginning of the Jubilee Holy Year, the theme of which is "Pilgrims of Hope."
The tradition of celebrating jubilees goes back to biblical times: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan." [Leviticus 25:10].
Today is the Jubilee Year, the Holy Year, a special year in the Catholic Church, during which the Pope grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful of the church for the fulfillment of certain conditions. At the beginning of its history in the Catholic Church, a jubilee year was proclaimed once every 50 years, later this period decreased and reached 25 years.
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