Holy Door

Girl from Wels accompanies Pope Francis

Pope Francis opens the Holy Door.

(Bild: APA/AP)

When Pope Francis opens the Jubilee Year 2025 by pushing open the "Holy Door" at the beginning of Christmas Eve Mass, he will do so with Austrian participation, according to Kathpress: A girl from Wels, Ludovica-Lavinia Piccioni (8), is one of the ten children accompanying the Pope.

Ludovica, who will be accompanied by her parents, will be dressed in an Upper Austrian dirndl, and the other participating children from all over the world will also be wearing their national costumes. The girl, the offspring of an emigrant family living in Rome, is currently preparing for her First Communion in spring in the German-speaking parish of Santa Maria dell'Anima. The plan is for the children to carry flowers and, together with Pope Francis, offer them to the wooden baby Jesus in the crib set up in St. Peter's Basilica towards the end of the celebration. "When the invitation came, we didn't hesitate for a second - because there will never be another opportunity like this," Ludovica's parents told Kathpress.

Start of the Holy Year
The opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica - one of a total of four such church entrances in Rome - marks the beginning of the Holy Year 2025, with which the Church celebrates the anniversary of another quarter of a century since the birth of Christ. The city of Rome is preparing for over 30 million visitors from all over the world for the Catholic feast year, which will last until January 6, 2026. The mega-event "Giubileo" (Jubilee) with its many religious, cultural and social events and initiatives - many of which involve the Pope - is being held under the motto "Pilgrims of Hope". The Vatican's calendar of events already lists hundreds of offers.

There is plenary indulgence
According to church doctrine, passing through the Holy Door, which also exists in other papal basilicas in Rome such as Santa Maria Maggiore, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls, brings the faithful a "plenary indulgence". This is understood to mean the experience of God's special goodness, which frees you from the temporal punishment of sin - the after-effects of sin that remain even after confession. Anyone who seeks an indulgence and fulfills prescribed conditions such as valid confession, the Eucharist and certain prayers can therefore be sure of God's indulgence and hope for strength for a new beginning.