Pope Francis will mark Christmas Eve on Tuesday with a special ceremony launching Jubilee 2025, a year of Catholic celebrations set to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome. And traditions have evolved since the first such event back in 1300,

Pope Francis is formally inaugurating the 2025 Holy Year, reviving an ancient church tradition encouraging the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome, amid new security fears following a Christmas market attack in Germany.

Francis urged the Vatican inner circle to bless more and talk less badly of others. It wasn’t the first time he had used the occasion to scold them.

The rite of opening the Holy Doors of the main basilicas of Rome to inaugurate the 2025 Jubilee Year is perhaps one of the most solemn events of the Catholic Church.

U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Rome in January to meet with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the White House said on Thursday of a trip that will take place shortly before Biden's term in office ends.

If the 2024 film “ Conclave ” dramatized the Vatican's inner workings with intrigue, Pope Francis delivered something of a real-life sequel on Saturday, urging Vatican bureaucrats to cut the backstabbing and embrace humility during his annual Christmas address.

The Holy Father recalled the popularity of the sport in rural villages in the past and its tendency to help foster a sense of community.

Pope Francis will open “five sacred portals” on Christmas Eve for a ritual that has never been performed before. Pope Francis is only opening one "sacred portal" on this year's Christmas Eve. The other four will be opened over the following days and weeks,

Joe Biden's visit with Pope Francis will be part of a three-day trip to Italy in January, likely the last international trip of Biden's presidency.

Over 35 million pilgrims are expected to visit Rome in 2025 seeking forgiveness of sins and a chance to see the pope.

Rome has shifted into high gear for the opening of Jubilee 2025, a blockbuster year-long celebration in the Catholic world that begins Christmas Eve. The Jubilee is a centuries-old tradition packed with epic pageantry and events that draw visitors from all corners of the globe.