Pope Francis opened the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve on Tuesday, launching the Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations set to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has recently been suffering from a cold, was pushed up to the huge, ornate bronze door in a wheelchair and knocked on it, before the doors opened and he went through as the bells of the Vatican basilica rang out.
Over the next 12 months, Catholic pilgrims will pass through the door -- which is normally bricked up -- by tradition benefiting from a "plenary indulgence", a type of forgiveness for their sins.
The ceremony was attended by cardinals and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni among others, while thousands of people gathered outside in St Peter's Square watching on big screens.
"It's my first time in Rome and for me, to be here at the Vatican, I feel already blessed," said Lisbeth Dembele, a 52-year-old French tourist visiting St Peter's Square earlier.
Pope Francis was then set to preside over the Christmas Eve mass in St Peter's, before delivering his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world), at midday on Wednesday.
The motto of the Jubilee is "Pilgrims of Hope", and the Argentine pontiff is expected to repeat his calls for peace in a world riven by conflict, particularly in the Middle East.
He drew an angry response from Israel at the weekend for condemning the "cruelty" of Israel's strikes in Gaza that killed children.
Ahead of a busy week, Francis missed his usual Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square on Sunday because of a cold, instead delivering it online from his home in the Vatican.
Rome facelift
Some 700 security officers are being deployed around the Vatican and Rome for the Jubilee celebrations, with measures further tightened following Friday's car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Germany.
Much of Rome has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and the Ponte Sant'Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic.
Many residents have questioned how the Eternal City -- where key sites are already overcrowded and public transport is unreliable -- will cope with millions more visitors next year.
Key Jubilee projects were only finished in the last few days after months of work that turned much of the city into a building site.
Inaugurating a new road tunnel at Piazza Pia next to the Vatican on Monday, Meloni said it had taken a "little civil miracle" to get the project finished in time.
Over the course of the next few days, Holy Doors will be opened in Rome's three major basilicas and in Catholic churches around the world.
On Thursday, Pope Francis will open a Holy Door at Rebibbia prison in Rome and preside over a mass in a show of support for the inmates.
LGBTQ faithful
Organised by the Church every 25 years, the Jubilee is intended as a period of reflection and penance, and is marked by a long list of cultural and religious events, from masses to exhibitions, conferences and concerts.
Primarily aimed at the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics, it aims to also reach a wider audience.
Traditions have evolved since the first such event back in 1300, launched by Pope Boniface VIII.
This year, the Vatican has provided pilgrims with online registration and multilingual phone apps to navigate events.
Jubilee 2025 also has a mascot named Luce (meaning Light in Latin) inspired by Japanese anime cartoons.
The event will see groups from around the world come to Rome throughout 2025, from sports and business figures to migrants, artists and young people.
Among the groups registered on the official site is Italian LGBTQ group La Tenda di Gionata, reflecting the pope's call for the Church to be open to all.
As well as the regular Jubilees every 25 years, the Church has organised extraordinary Jubilees, the most recent in 2016. The next is in 2033 to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
(AFP)