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Pope Leo XIV Closes Holy Door, Ending Jubilee That Drew Record Pilgrims to Rome

Officials touted roughly €4 billion in urban works, with the 33.5 million pilgrim tally presented as an estimate.

People attend Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, December 24, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Cardinal Baldo Reina, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran, closes a Holy Door, as part of the end of the Catholic Jubilee Year, in Rome, Italy December 27, 2025. Riccardo Antimiani/Pool via REUTERS
Cardinal Baldo Reina, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran, closes a Holy Door, as part of the end of the Catholic Jubilee Year, in Rome, Italy December 27, 2025. Riccardo Antimiani/Pool via REUTERS
Pope Leo XIV leads the Mass for the Epiphany of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 6, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Overview

  • Pope Leo XIV sealed St. Peter’s Holy Door on Epiphany, concluding the 2025 Holy Year and urging Christians to treat foreigners with kindness and resist a profit-only mindset.
  • The Vatican reported 33,475,369 participants from 185 countries, noting the total is an approximation derived from registrations, volunteer counts and CCTV that could include double counting.
  • The Jubilee featured a rare transition, opened by Pope Francis and closed by his successor, a two-pope sequence last recorded in 1700.
  • Italian and Vatican officials cited about €3.7–4 billion spent on some 3,200 projects, including a new pedestrian piazza and tunnel near the Vatican, subway upgrades and restorations such as the Trevi Fountain.
  • Organizers praised the year as a catalyst for urban renewal, while some trade groups and media questioned the scale of near-term economic gains.