With less than a month to go before the Holy Year concludes, the Holy See has revealed the liturgical details that will mark the end of this time of grace. The Jubilee of Hope, inaugurated by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve 2024, will come to an end with a series of solemn ceremonies in the main basilicas of Rome, culminating in a historic act presided over by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Basilica.
After twelve months of pilgrimage, in which it is estimated that nearly 30 million faithful have crossed the sacred thresholds in search of plenary indulgence, the Vatican has formalized the “countdown” for the sealing of the bronze porticos.
The closing schedule
The closing rite will not be performed simultaneously in all the temples, but will follow a staggered order starting on Christmas 2025. According to information released by the Holy See Press Office, the schedule will be as follows:
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Basilica of Saint Mary Major: It will be the first to close its Holy Door. The ceremony will take place on December 25, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. The person in charge of presiding over the rite and the subsequent Eucharist will be Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest of the Marian basilica.
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Basilica of St. John Lateran: The cathedral of the Bishop of Rome will seal its door two days later, on December 27 at 11:00 a.m. The liturgy will be led by Cardinal Baldo Reina, vicar of Rome, and will feature musical accompaniment by the diocesan choir under the baton of Monsignor Marco Frisina.
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Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls: The following day, December 28 at 10:00 a.m., Cardinal James Michael Harvey, archpriest of this basilica, will officiate the closing rite.
The solemn closing with Pope Leo XIV
The central and conclusive act of the Jubilee Year is reserved for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 6, 2026. On this date, Pope Leo XIV will personally close the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Peter.
This gesture will mark the official end of the ordinary Jubilee of 2025. During the ceremony, the Pontiff is expected to renew the invitation to the faithful for the next great event of the Church: the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption, scheduled for the year 2033, in commemoration of the two thousand years of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.
A Jubilee marked by the “periphery”
The article also recalls the pastoral stamp that Pope Francis imprinted at the beginning of this year of grace. Breaking with the tradition that limited the opening of holy doors to the four papal basilicas, on December 26, 2024, the Argentine Pope inaugurated a
