A New Pope for a Holy Year: Pope Leo XIV and the Jubilee of Hope | EWTN Vaticano

Inauguration of Pope Leo XIV

• 📅 May 18, 2025, marked the official inauguration of Pope Leo XIV's pontificate in St. Peter's Square.
• 💡 This event occurred during the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025, making it a unique historical moment as the Jubilee was opened by one pope and carried forward by another.
• 📈 The new pope's election immediately led to a significant increase in pilgrims heading to Rome, driven by curiosity and a desire to understand the new papal era.

Guiding Message of Peace

• 🕊️ Pope Leo XIV's pontificate began with the greeting "Peace be with you," echoing the Risen Christ's message to his disciples.
• 🔑 This message established peace as the guiding theme of the Jubilee, presented as both a divine gift and a human responsibility to build among ourselves.
• 💬 During an audience with journalists, Pope Leo urged them to advance truth and "disarm violence," advocating against a "war of words and images" and rejecting the paradigm of war.

Record Participation and Spiritual Depth

• ⛪ The Jubilee saw extraordinary numbers of faithful, with audiences and Eucharistic celebrations drawing 50,000 to 100,000 people in St. Peter's and other basilicas.
• 🙏 Pilgrims sought deep interior renewal by passing through the Holy Door, a fundamental spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, responding to a perceived "lack of humanity."
• 🌟 The canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis was a highly anticipated moment, with the unprecedented presence of an entire saint's family at the ceremony.

Youth Engagement and Inclusivity

• 🚀 The Youth Jubilee gathered over one million young people at Tor Vergata, where Pope Leo XIV encouraged them to "aspire to great things."
• 🌱 He emphasized that "fragility is not a taboo" and true fulfillment does not depend on accumulation or possession, drawing inspiration from the newly canonized saints.
• 💖 Pope Leo XIV, in his apostolic exhortation "Dilex" (co-written with Pope Francis), dedicated the Jubilee to the poor and marginalized, ensuring no one is excluded from the Church's embrace.

Reaching the Peripheries

• 🌍 The Jubilee concluded with a focus on the poor and prisoners, fulfilling the late pope's plans and reinforcing the message of universal inclusion.
• ✈️ Pope Leo XIV extended the Jubilee's message to the "peripheries," not only geographical but also spiritual, through his first apostolic journey.
• 🇹🇷🇱🇧 He chose Turkey and Lebanon, countries where Catholics are a minority, to underscore that all are held in the heart of the Successor of Peter and the Church.