Pope Francis kicked off the 2025 Holy Year on Tuesday, inaugurating a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome in a test of the pope's stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.

Pope Francis kicked off the 2025 Holy Year on Tuesday, inaugurating a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome in a test of the pope's stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.

Pope Francis said the story of Jesus' birth as a poor carpenter's son should instil hope that all people can make an impact on the world, as the pontiff on Tuesday led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas.

Pope Francis called for cease-fires for the conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East during his Christmas message in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

Delivering his Christmas Day message overlooking crowds of thousands of international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square from the Central Loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope insisted that a “just and lasting peace” can only be achieved in our world if people first turn to the “Father of Mercies.

The 88-year-old Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass on Christmas Eve, officially launching the Jubilee Year 2025.

Hope lives, Francis reminded the faithful on Christmas Eve, as he spoke of the blessed arrival of the Christ Child and the start of the Jubilee.

Visitors tour the 41st annual Deacon Dave’s Christmas display at Casa del Pomba in Livermore, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The Deacon Dave Rezendes’s world-famous home features more than 900,000 lights glowing around his property. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world,

Pope Francis visits prison in Rome to open Holy Door and hold a Mass Pope Francis visits Rebibbia Prison in Rome, where he will symbolically open a Holy Door with inmates and preside over a Mass. Francis has dedicated the 2025 Jubilee,