Holy Door closes to end Jubilee Year — and a year of historic Vatican transition
Cardinal James Michael Harvey, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, closes the basilica's Holy Door during a ceremony in Rome on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, as Holy Doors across the city's major papal basilicas are sealed in a series of rites ahead of the formal conclusion of the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee Year, which will end with the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica by Pope Leo XIV on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, pool)
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Rushed preparations, soaring pilgrim numbers and underwhelming financial returns defined a Jubilee Year shaped by an unexpected papal transition.