More than half a million pilgrims crossed the threshold of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in the first two weeks of the Jubilee Year of Hope. Source: CNS.
From December 24, when Pope Francis opened the door to inaugurate the Holy Year, to January 7, 545,532 people from around the world have made the journey along the lengthy boulevard leading to St Peter’s Square and crossed through the basilica’s Holy Door, the Vatican said.
“This is a very significant beginning,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the chief Vatican organiser of the Jubilee Year, said in a statement.
“The groups crowding Via della Conciliazione are giving an important testimony, and this is also a sign of the great perception of safety and security that pilgrims experience in the city of Rome and around the four papal basilicas.”
A tunnel diverting vehicle traffic underground at the beginning of Via Della Conciliazione – the street leading to the Vatican – was completed just before the start of the Holy Year. A pathway extending from the new pedestrian square at the start of the street to the Holy Door also was set up exclusively for pilgrims walking individually or in groups to St Peter’s Basilica.
Archbishop Fisichella acknowledged, however, that there were some “difficulties” in managing the flow of pilgrims and tourists through St Peter’s Basilica, a problem that would be studied.
The city of Rome has estimated that more than 30 million people will travel to the city during the Jubilee.
The first major event of the Holy Year is the Jubilee of the World of Communications from January 24-26, which will bring to Rome “thousands of journalists, experts and communications workers from all over the world”, the Vatican said.
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St Peter’s Holy Door sees more than half million pilgrims in two weeks (By Justin McLellan, CNS)
