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WorldDecember 25, 2024

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pilgrims lined up early Wednesday to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as Christmas marked the start of the

SILVIA STELLACCI and COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press
A man stops in prayer as he walks through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A man stops in prayer as he walks through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, left, watch the set-up of a giant Hanukkah Menorah by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, left, watch the set-up of a giant Hanukkah Menorah by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Christians attend the Christmas mass in the Greek Orthodox convent Saint Takla, in Maaloula, some 60 km northern Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Christians attend the Christmas mass in the Greek Orthodox convent Saint Takla, in Maaloula, some 60 km northern Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Christians attend the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via EPA)
Christians attend the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2024. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via EPA)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful take photos as they arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful take photos as they arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Faithful arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Faithful arrive to walk through the Holy Door of St.Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve marking the start of the Catholic 2025 Jubilee. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houses are seen along the mountain as a cross stands over the Greek Orthodox convent Saint Takla on Christmas Eve in Maaloula, some 60 km northern Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Houses are seen along the mountain as a cross stands over the Greek Orthodox convent Saint Takla on Christmas Eve in Maaloula, some 60 km northern Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fireworks burst over Saydnaya Convent during the lighting of the Christmas tree, in Saydnaya town on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Fireworks burst over Saydnaya Convent during the lighting of the Christmas tree, in Saydnaya town on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday Dec. 25, 2024. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via EPA)
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday Dec. 25, 2024. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via EPA)ASSOCIATED PRESS
A nun holds a child to light a candle before the Christmas morning Mass at the Chapel of Saint Catherine, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A nun holds a child to light a candle before the Christmas morning Mass at the Chapel of Saint Catherine, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, center, leads the Christmas morning Mass at the Chapel of Saint Catherine, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, center, leads the Christmas morning Mass at the Chapel of Saint Catherine, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Christians attend the Christmas Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Christians attend the Christmas Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pilgrims lined up early Wednesday to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as Christmas marked the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome.

Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis knocked on the door and was the first to walk through it, inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee that he dedicated to hope.

Pilgrims submitted to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amid new security fears following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany. Many paused to touch the door as they passed and made the sign of the cross upon entering the basilica dedicated to St. Peter, founder of the Roman Catholic Church.

At noon, Francis will deliver the “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and the World” address, which serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year.

A Chrismukkah miracle as Hanukkah and Christmas coincide

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.

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The calendar confluence has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings, such as a a Chicanukah party hosted last week by several Jewish organizations in Houston, Texas, bringing together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for latkes, the traditional potato pancake eaten on Hanukkah, topped with guacamole and salsa.

While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it’s taking place this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears rise over widespread incidents of antisemitism. The holidays overlap infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005.

German celebrations muted by market attack

German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday that left five people dead, including a 9-year-old boy, and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack, saying that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg.” He urged Germans to “stand together” and that “hate and violence must not have the last word.”

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who had practiced medicine in Germany since 2006 was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim and is filled with anti-Islamic themes. He criticized authorities for failing to combat “the Islamification of Germany” and voiced support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

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Barry reported from Milan. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.

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