Sunday, 18 May 2025 — the inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV — was a moment of profound significance for the Church and for the world. Vast crowds filled St Peter’s Square as the new Successor of Peter formally began his ministry, marking not only the start of a new papal era, but one unfolding within an extraordinary context: the Jubilee Year 2025.

Pope Leo and the Jubilee Year

It is a Jubilee unlike most others in history. As Fr. Roberto Regoli, Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, explains, its very structure has captured the imagination of the faithful.

“It is a special Jubilee because it was opened by one Pope and will be closed by another Pope for the second time in history, and this arouses curiosity and interest. In fact, we saw that immediately after the election of Pope Leo the number of pilgrims heading to Rome increased. There is curiosity, people want to know, they want to understand — it is the People of God on a journey.”

That journey now continues under the guidance of a new pope, elected in the heart of a Holy Year that carries a message of hope, unity, and peace for humanity.

“Peace Be With You”: A Pontificate Marked by Peace

From the very first moments of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV made clear the spiritual foundation of his mission. Fr. Agnello Stoia, Custodian of the Vatican Basilica, reflected on the significance of the Pope’s initial greeting.

“It was wonderful because at the very beginning Pope Leo greeted everyone with the greeting of the Risen One: ‘Peace be with you’. It is the very greeting of the Risen Jesus who appears in the Upper Room to the disciples, and it is a peace that is His gift. But it is also a call for us: we are responsible, capable of building peace among ourselves, each according to his or her own responsibility in the whole world.”

That call has resonated powerfully throughout the Jubilee. According to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Pope Leo’s presence has drawn unprecedented numbers of people.

“Pope Leo is a magnet. The audiences, the Jubilee audiences, the Wednesday audiences, the various Eucharistic celebrations held during this Jubilee period see truly extraordinary numbers — 50, 70, 80, even 100 thousand people.”

Each day, St Peter’s Basilica and the other papal basilicas welcome record numbers of pilgrims eager to pass through the Holy Door — continuing a tradition dating back to the Jubilee of 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII first proclaimed a Holy Year focused on conversion and renewal.

Pilgrimage, Spirituality, and the Hunger for Meaning

At the heart of the Jubilee lies pilgrimage — not merely as movement, but as a spiritual path. Archbishop Fisichella emphasized its enduring importance.

“The pilgrimage toward the Holy Door, I believe, will remain a fundamental dimension, especially as a dimension of spirituality. This is a Jubilee that wanted to be profoundly marked by spirituality — not only because there is a great search for spirituality, but because it responds to that lack of humanity that we often perceive.”

Peace has remained the unifying theme of Pope Leo XIV’s Jubilee ministry. From his very first audience — with journalists and media professionals — he called for responsibility in communication and a rejection of violence.

During that meeting, the Pope stated:

“The way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images; we must reject the paradigm of war.’”

The Youth Jubilee and a Call to Greatness

Between July and August, amid Rome’s intense summer heat, one of the most anticipated events of the Jubilee Year took place: the Youth Jubilee. For many, it recalled the great gathering of young people during the Jubilee of the Year 2000.

At the Vigil Prayer on August 2, Pope Leo XIV recalled the words spoken by Saint John Paul II twenty-five years earlier.

“Twenty-five years ago, right here where we stand, Saint John Paul II said: ‘It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty that so attracts you.’”

Addressing more than one million young people gathered at Tor Vergata for the Jubilee’s concluding celebration, Pope Leo offered a vision of hope and aspiration. He described hope as a stepstool that helps children look out of God’s window, urging them:

“Aspire to great things,”

as Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis did, reminding them that fragility is not

“a taboo”

and that

“the fullness of our existence does not depend on what we accumulate or possess.”

The canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis — two figures held up by the Pope as models for young people — became one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the Holy Year. St Peter’s Square filled with 80,000 faithful, marking the first time in history that an entire family of a saint was present at a canonization.

A Jubilee That Embraces the Peripheries

As the Jubilee moves toward its conclusion, Archbishop Fisichella reflected on the spiritual fruits pilgrims carry home.

“From what I see, pilgrims will take with them the journey toward the Holy Door — a protected, privileged path made of prayer. Many people have opened their hearts to me as well, asking me to remember their loved ones, delicate situations of illness, marginalization, and poverty in general.”

Pope Leo XIV, following closely in the footsteps of Pope Francis, has made clear that the Church must embrace all these realities. He did so through his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, written “four-hands” with Pope Francis and dedicated to the poor and marginalized.

The Jubilee concludes with the Jubilee of the Poor and Prisoners — precisely as Pope Francis had envisioned — reaffirming that no one is excluded from the heart of the Church. This same message has shaped Pope Leo’s first apostolic journey, choosing Turkey and Lebanon, countries where Catholics are a minority, to show that the Church’s concern reaches not only geographical peripheries, but also the peripheries of faith.

In the heart of a Holy Year marked by pilgrimage, peace, and hope, Pope Leo XIV has begun his pontificate by reminding the world that all are held within the care of the Successor of Peter — and within the embrace of the Church itself.

Adapted by Jacob Stein. Produced by Alexey Gotovskiy; Camera by Alberto Basile, Fabio Gonella, Patrick Leonard, Anthony Johnson; Video Edited by Ilaria Chimenti.