Jubilee 2025 in Rome: Walking Through Holy Doors Before They Close

What Jubilee 2025 in Rome Is All About

As the Holy Doors in Rome prepare to close at the end of this Jubilee year, I wanted to share a little about our experience walking through them. During our three weeks in Italy this past summer, Sal and I made a point to stop in Rome for a few days specifically to be part of Jubilee 2025. We’ve done the tourist thing in Rome plenty of times. We’ve seen the sights, we know the drill, but this year the timing felt too meaningful to pass up. This Jubilee was something personal I really wanted to experience.

A Jubilee is a Holy Year that happens every 25 years in the Catholic tradition, focusing on forgiveness, renewal, and hope. The theme for Jubilee 2025 is Pilgrims of Hope, and one of the key traditions is that the Holy Doors of Rome’s major basilicas are opened. These doors are usually sealed shut and only open during Jubilee years. Once this Holy Year ends, they’ll close again until the next Jubilee. The next one is actually coming a bit sooner in 2033 to mark the 2000th anniversary of the death of Jesus, which is why it’s not quite the usual 25-year wait.

St. Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le Mura) outside

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) holy door

St. Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le Mura) holy door closeup

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) outside

St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) inside

Pope Francis' tomb at St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore)

St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano) inside

As part of our Holy Door pilgrimage, we visited the four papal basilicas: St. Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le Mura), St. John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano), St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore), and of course, St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro). Each one was special in its own way. At St. Peter’s, it almost felt like we got a little VIP treatment because we were part of the pilgrimage group. And yes, while I like to think of myself as the strong, gym-loving girlie who could totally carry that cross, I graciously let the guys do it this time. Consider it my way of flexing my sense of humor instead of my muscles... BUT just this once!

St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) pilgrimage outside

St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) paperwork

St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) the pilgrimage walk

St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro) ceiling

And while a Jubilee might sound like a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you can actually experience it more than once if you time it right. The next one is in 2033, so it’s entirely possible to catch a couple in your lifetime.

For us, Jubilee 2025 wasn’t about doing something perfectly or checking a box. It was about being in Rome at a time that felt meaningful, walking through these historic doors before they close, and having a moment that’s going to stick with us for a long time.