Jubilee 2025: Pope Francis asks that Rome be a place of welcome

As part of the preparation for the Jubilee of 2025 and in a gesture that highlights the proximity between the municipal government and the Vatican, Pope Francis traveled to the Campidoglio on the morning of June 10.

After his arrival at 9:00 a.m. (local time) on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, the Holy Father was received by the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualteri. This is the second time that the Pontiff visits this emblematic Roman enclave.

The Pope’s second visit to Campidoglio during his pontificate

After listening to the trumpet blasts of the local faithful Vitorchianothe Holy Father entered with the mayor into the File and they stopped before the first arch that dominates the Roman Forum. Later, they moved to Senatorial Palacewhere they held a private meeting in the mayor’s office.

Pope Francis then greeted the members of the mayor’s secretariat gathered in the Tapestry Room. Afterwards, in the Hall of Flagssigned in the so-called “Golden Book” of the City Council of Rome and, then, in the Sala Julius Caesarmet with the councilors, councilors and other invited authorities.

After an exchange of gifts, Pope Francis and Gualtieri looked into the Lodge of the Senatorial Palace and they greeted the Roman citizens gathered in the Piazza del Campidoglio.

Rome, “a beacon of stability and security”

During his speech, Pope Francis looked at the course of Roman history, from the time of the Roman Empire to the arrival of the pontiffs.

First of all, he recalled that ancient Rome “became a beacon to which many peoples turned to enjoy stability and security.”

Likewise, he highlighted that the aspiration of that civilization, which had reached the peak of its flowering, “offers another explanation for the rapid spread of the Christian message in Roman society.”

He also highlighted “the luminous testimony of the martyrs and the dynamism of charity of the first communities of believers,” which intercepted the need to hear new words, “of eternal life.”

“Olympus was no longer enough, it was necessary to go to Golgotha ​​and the empty tomb of the Risen Lord to find the answers to the longing for truth, justice and love,” he said.

Thus, Pope Francis emphasized that the Christian faith “would permeate and transform over time the lives of people and the institutions themselves.”

Furthermore, he recalled the years of slavery and lamented that sometimes, almost unconsciously, today there is “the risk of being selective and partial in the defense of human dignity, marginalizing or discarding certain categories of people, who end up finding themselves without adequate protection.”

Later, he spoke of the Rome “of the Popes, successors of the apostle Peter, who presided over the entire Church in charity” and also cited the Unification of Italy.

The Jubilee, a “prayerful and penitent pilgrimage”

Later, he highlighted that Rome is now preparing to host the Jubilee of 2025, an event of a religious nature that he defined as “a prayerful and penitent pilgrimage to obtain from divine mercy a more complete reconciliation with the Lord.”

He stressed that this event “cannot fail to also involve the city in terms of the care and works necessary to welcome the numerous pilgrims who will visit it, in addition to the tourists who come to admire its immense treasure of works of art and the great traces of past centuries.”

For this reason, he thanked the municipal authorities for their efforts in preparing the city to welcome the pilgrims of the next Jubilee, and the Italian Government “for its full availability to cooperate with the ecclesiastical authorities for the success of the Jubilee, confirming the will for friendly cooperation that characterizes the mutual relations between Italy and the Holy See.”

The value of the city of Rome

Later, he noted that Rome is a city “with a universal spirit,” which wants to “be at the service of charity, at the service of welcome and hospitality” and urged that the city “continue to show its true face, a welcoming, hospitable, generous, noble face.”

“All this is Rome, its specificity, unique in the world, its honor, its great attraction and its responsibility towards Italy, towards the Church, towards the human family,” he continued.

Furthermore, he pointed out that “each of its problems is the ‘reverse’ of its greatness and, based on a crisis factor, it can become an opportunity for development: civil, social, economic, cultural.”

“The immense treasure of culture and history that lies in the hills of Rome is the honor and burden of its citizenry and its rulers, and hopes to be appropriately valued and respected,” he emphasized.

Given this, the Holy Father urged that everyone’s awareness of the value of Rome be revived, “of the symbol that it represents on all continents; and that the reciprocal effective collaboration between all the powers that reside in it, for a choral and constant action that makes it even more worthy of the role that destiny, or rather Providence, has in store for it.

He also explained that, as Bishop of Rome, one of his priorities is to feel close to his priests, and stated that that is why he visits the dioceses in the peripheries.

Finally, he spoke of his devotion to the Virgin Salvation of the Roman Peoplewhom he asked to “watch over the city and people of Rome, instill hope and inspire charity, so that, confirming its most noble traditions, it may continue to be, also in our time, a beacon of civilization and promoter of peace.”

After his words, he moved to the call Portico of Vignolawhere among the trumpet blasts, the Holy Father Francis said goodbye to Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and left the Capitol to return to the Vatican.