Vatican Media captured this moment, when Pope Leo closed the Holy Door at St. Peter’s yesterday. AP noted:
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today’s consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition from one American pontiff to another.
With cardinals and diplomats looking on, Leo kneeled down in prayer on the stone floor at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. He then stood up and pulled the two doors shut, symbolically concluding the rarest of Jubilees: one that was opened by a feeble Pope Francis in December 2024, continued during his funeral and the conclave, and then was closed by Francis’ successor a year later.
Only once before, in 1700, has a Holy Year been opened by one pope and closed by another.
From the pope’s homily:
The way in which Jesus encountered and allowed himself to be approached by all people teaches us to value the heart’s secrets, which only he can read. With him, we learn to welcome the signs of the times (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, 4). No one can sell this to us. The child whom the Magi adore is a priceless and immeasurable Good. It is the Epiphany of a gift. It does not occur in a prestigious location, but in humble place. “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah” (Mt 2:6). How many cities, how many communities need to hear it said, “You are by no means least.” Yes, the Lord still surprises us! He reveals himself and lets himself be found. His ways are not our ways, and the violent do not succeed in controlling them, nor can the powers of the world block them. This is the great joy of the Magi, who left palace and temple behind in setting out for Bethlehem; it is only at that moment that they see the star once again!
