The Pope opened the Holy Door of a Roman prison while standing.
Unlike at the start of the Jubilee in the Vatican, the 88-year-old pontiff showed a more energetic version of himself and did not remain in the wheelchair.
Pope Francis wanted to visit a prison to speak to the incarcerated about hope.
POPE FRANCIS
Closed hearts, hard hearts, do not help us to live. That is why the grace of a Jubilee is to open wide, to open, and above all, to open hearts to hope.
After the solemn opening of the Jubilee, Pope Francis decided to address a social wound: the issue of prisons, where in 2024, prison suicides—up until the papal visit—nearly reached 90 in Italy alone, due to overcrowding and lack of staff to manage them.
POPE FRANCIS
POOL AIGAV
The first Holy Door I opened was that of St. Peter's on the other night. The second Holy Door is this basilica. Today the prison has become a “basilica” in quotes.
Many of these prisoners are not the big fish. The big fish have the cunning and stay out. And we must accompany the detainees.
Back in the Vatican, the Pope leaned out of the window of the papal apartments to pray the Angelus with the pilgrims. From there, he once again called for the forgiveness of the debt of the poorest countries.
POPE FRANCIS
The question of debt is linked to that of peace and the “black market” of weapons. No more colonizing peoples with weapons! Let us work for disarmament.
That day marked the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, a day that is a public holiday in Italy.
JRB
