Pope closes Holy Year by urging kindness to foreigners
Pope Leo closed the Catholic Church’s Holy Year by sealing the special “Holy Door” in St. Peter’s Basilica and calling on Christians worldwide to help those in need and be kind to strangers.
Leo, who has made dealing with immigrants a central theme of his first pontificate, said at a Vatican ceremony that the record 33.5 million pilgrims visiting Rome during the Holy Year must learn not to treat people as mere “products”.
“A distorted economy around us seeks to profit from everything,” the pope said on Tuesday. he said.
“After this year, will we be able to better recognize the pilgrim in the visitor, the seeker in the stranger, the neighbor in the stranger?”
Holy years, or jubilees, usually occur every 25 years and are considered a time of peace, forgiveness, and forgiveness.
Pilgrims to Rome can enter through special Holy Doors in four Roman basilicas and attend papal conclaves throughout the year.
Wearing gold-trimmed robes, Leo officially ended the year by pulling open the special bronze gate of St Peter’s.
The next jubilee is not expected until 2033, when the church can hold a special jubilee to mark the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ death.
The Vatican and Italian officials said on Monday that pilgrims going to Rome for the 2025 anniversary came from 185 countries, including Italy, the USA, Spain, Brazil and Poland.
The 2025 anniversary marked a historical rarity not seen for 300 years: it was opened by Pope Francis and closed by his successor Leo.
Francis died in April after 12 years leading the 1.4 billion-member church.
The last jubilee held under two popes was in the 11th century. It was in 1700 that Clement closed the holy year opened by Innocent XII.
Vowing to continue Francis’ signature policies such as welcoming gay Catholics and discussing women’s ordination, Leo on Tuesday echoed the late pope’s frequent criticisms of the global economic system.
Leo, the first pope of the United States, lamented that markets had “turned into a mere business the longing of men to seek, to travel, and to begin again.”
