Pope brings Holy Year and a message of hope to Rome's main prison

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis inaugurated his Holy Year at Rome’s main prison on Thursday, bringing a message of hope to inmates and involving them in the Catholic Church’s once-every-quarter century celebration that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome.

Francis stood up from his wheelchair, knocked on the door to the chapel at Rebibbia prison and walked across the threshold, re-enacting the gesture he performed at St. Peter’s Basilica two nights earlier on Christmas Eve.

The opening of the Holy Door at the Basilica officially kicked of the Jubilee year, a church tradition dating to 1300 that nowadays occurs every 25 years and involves the faithful coming to Rome on pilgrimages.

"The first Holy Door I opened at Christmas in St. Peter's. I wanted the second one be here, in a prison," Francis told the inmates before he entered. “I wanted each of us here, inside and out, to have the possibility of throwing open the door of our hearts and understanding that hope doesn't disappoint.”

Francis dedicated the 2025 Jubilee to hope and has made clear that prisoners were an important part of the Holy Year: The final grand event of the Jubilee is a special Mass for inmates at St. Peter's on Dec. 14, 2025. Francis has long made prison ministry an important part of his priestly vocation and has made several visits to Rebibbia since becoming pope in 2013.

His message, also delivered to inmates during his foreign trips, is always one of hope, believing that people who are serving prison sentences need something to look forward to more than most.

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