The Jubilee has officially begun. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica last night, officially starting this year dedicated to hope. The Pontiff crossed the symbol of forgiveness in a wheelchair. The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and the President of the Lazio Region Francesco Rocca. Among the faithful in the basilica were also John Elkann and his wife Lavinia Borromeo.
Francis' gaze is for the lands tormented by war, for the poor countries burdened by unjust debts, for a land consumed and destroyed by neglect . And so Christian hope is not waiting for something to happen. Hope "does not tolerate the indolence of the sedentary and the laziness of those who are settled in their own comforts; it does not admit the false prudence of those who do not commit themselves for fear of compromising themselves and the calculation of those who think only of themselves; it is incompatible with the quiet life of those who do not raise their voice against evil and against the injustices committed at the expense of the poorest", said the Pope in the homily of the Christmas Mass, which began immediately after the opening of the Holy Door, adding that Christian hope "demands from us the audacity to anticipate this promise today, through our responsibility and our compassion".
Hope is therefore not "passively waiting" but, on the contrary, "being indignant at things that are not going well and having the courage to change them" .
Then the Pontiff returns to express his pain for wars: " There are so many desolations in this world, let us think of the wars, of the children machine-gunned, of the bombs on schools and hospitals ." And then we must allow ourselves to be "disturbed by God's dream, the dream of a new world, where peace and justice reign."
"With the opening of the Holy Door we have begun a new Jubilee: each of us can enter into the mystery of this announcement of grace. This is the night in which the door of hope - concluded the Pope - has opened wide on the world; this is the night in which God says to each one of us: there is hope for you too! ".