As Visitors Pack Rome, The Vatican Awaits Its ‘Moment For Evangelization’
ROME — The Eternal City is known for its crowded piazzas and bad traffic. City officials and the Vatican also want you to think of it as a place to visit in 2025.
The city is preparing for a jubilee year, a time when the Catholic Church invites pilgrims to Rome. The events, which will officially began on Christmas Eve this year and end on Dec. 28, 2025, constitute a special time dedicated to prayer and pilgrimage.
Typically held every 25 years (although the pope can call for one at any time), the jubilee is also turning into a time to be patient given the traffic and street closures. A two-day bus and train strike, which caused headaches when it started this past Sunday, certainly didn’t help matters.
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“There has been a preparation that has made us impatient when it comes to traffic,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the pro-prefect for the Section of New Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who also heads the committee organizing the jubilee. “The city will be more welcoming and more beautiful [after the work is completed].”
Italy’s capital, which already draws an estimated 25 million visitors each year, could see that number increase to 32 million in 2025, putting enormous stress on a city known for crowded streets clogged with cars and motor scooters. While Romans look to cut down on their commutes, the Vatican is looking to save souls.
Construction is being done across the city, including near the landmarks such as the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and along the Tiber River, where one of the Rome’s biggest projects is taking place. A new piazza is being built in order to better connect the Vatican and Castel Sant’ Angelo, a thoroughfare pilgrims will embark on during the jubilee.
In all, the Italian government has $4.7 million (4.2 million euros) to make sure these public works projects are completed. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, has also promised that these makeovers will help the city going forward. To alleviate crowds, the city is also considering a plan to impose a 2 euro ($2.25) ticket to access the famed Trevi Fountain.
As the jubilee prepared to cross a pivotal milestone (it is nearly 100 days away from the start of events), Fisichella met with a group of international journalists on Monday to discuss what it all means for the church and the millions who will take part.
“I’m not anxious about it,” he admitted, “but there is a lot to do.”
Construction in Piazza Navona has made getting around Rome difficult for cars and pedestrians. (Photo by Clemente Lisi)
Jubilee dates back over 700 years
The jubilee is a centuries-old tradition in Rome that dates back to Pope Bonafice VIII in the year 1300.
“It was requested by the Roman people,” Fisichella said, referring to the very first one. “This is very important to underline. … This was not the idea of a pope, a bishop, a cardinal or a priest. The idea belonged to the people of God.”
In Leviticus, a jubilee year is mentioned to take place every 50th year, a time when Jewish tradition called for slaves and prisoners to be freed and debts forgiven all in the name of God’s mercy.
In modern times, jubilees in the Catholic Church are typically held every 25 years — the last one taking place in 2000, when St. John Paul II was pope. That event was used primarily used by the church to officially mark its 2,000 years of existence.
In May, Pope Francis presided over a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica for the reading of the papal bull— an official edict — that laid out his vision for what he called a year of hope to coincide with the jubilee.
“Hope is needed by God’s creation, gravely damaged and disfigured by human selfishness,” the pope said. “Hope is needed by those peoples and nations who look to the future with anxiety and fear.”
Archbishop Rino Fisichella has been the Vatican's point person on the Jubilee that will dominate the Catholic Church next year. (Photo by Clemente Lisi)
A chance for evangelization
Fisichella said a series of events — including art exhibits and concerts — will be a part of the festivities but that the focus on pilgrims remains.
“We think the jubilee is a religious exposure but also a cultural experience,” he added.
The main reason for the jubilee is to provide Catholics with a means to, as Fisichella put it, “seek pardon and forgiveness.”
That pardon and forgiveness is sought by offering indulgences, part of a Catholic tradition as a way to reduce the amount of punishment to undergo the forgiveness of sins. In order to receive this pardon, Catholics must recite a prayer at a specific church.
Those sites are scattered across Rome and include the Tomb of Peter, situated under St. Peter’s Basilica, and Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
What makes a pilgrim different from an ordinary visitor, Fisichella said, is “if you have no goal to reach [as a result of your visit], then you are not a pilgrim.”
He reinforced the notion that the jubilee is “a religious experience” and “a moment for evangelization” in an increasingly secular world.
Fisichella also said it is a chance for the church to discuss hope, which has emerged as a main theme for the upcoming jubilee.
“The church today,” he added, “doesn’t normally speak about hope.”
Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post. Follow him on X @ClementeLisi.