Pope Francis kicked off the 2025 Holy Year on Tuesday, inaugurating a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome in a test of the pope's stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.

In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, launching what he called a "Jubilee of Hope." As the doors opened, the bells of the basilica began to peal. After the reading of a brief passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus describes

The Pope delivered his Christmas Day message overlooking crowds of thousands of international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis said the story of Jesus' birth as a poor carpenter's son should instil hope that all people can make an impact on the world, as the pontiff on Tuesday led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas.

In his traditional Christmas message on 25 December, Pope Francis mentioned the war in Ukraine, calling for an end to it and for negotiations for a just peace. Source: European Pravda Details: Pope Francis devoted two sentences of his Christmas message to the mention of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

The Pope also addressed the war in Ukraine, calling for the “sound of arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine”

Pope Francis is expected to address the world's wars and conflicts in his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message to the faithful spoken from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican at noon on Wednesday,

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and

Pope Francis has called for “arms to be silenced” around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Hope lives, Francis reminded the faithful on Christmas Eve, as he spoke of the blessed arrival of the Christ Child and the start of the Jubilee.

Nearly half a million households were left without power on Christmas Day in frigid weather after further missile attacks by Russia on Ukraine's damaged power grid, according to multiple reports.