In anticipation of the Jubilee 2025, Rome is undergoing transformative changes to welcome millions of pilgrims. EWTN News had an exclusive interview with Rome’s Mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, who shared his aspirations and plans for the city’s enhancement. Mayor Gualtieri highlighted the city’s interventions around Vatican City, symbolizing unity and restoration. He emphasized the significance of the Jubilee, a tradition dating back to the year 1300, especially considering its theme as the ‘Jubilee of Hope’ amid global challenges. With expectations of over 30 million pilgrims, preparations extend beyond infrastructure to include logistical support and volunteer services. Rome eagerly awaits this historic event and invites everyone to experience an extraordinary Jubilee.

“Pope Francis has explicitly spoken about the importance of this Jubilee having an impact on Rome and making the city even more beautiful,” said the Mayor of Rome, highlighting the collaboration between the Church and the City of Rome.

With only eight months to go until the beginning of the Jubilee 2025, the city of Rome is already experiencing many changes. In an exclusive interview with EWTN News, the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, spoke about his hopes for the Jubilee and the many interventions made around the city and the Vatican area.

“We are going to do many interventions,” he said, “some right around Vatican City, starting from the beautiful Piazza Pia uniting Castel Sant’Angelo to the Via della Conciliazione and St. Peter’s Square in a kind of embrace. Just a few months ago, a highway separated these places. This is very beautiful, first of all, because we are restoring one of the most beautiful squares of the city and because it has a deep meaning of unity between the city of Rome, the Italian State, and Vatican City.”

In recent weeks, the Vatican presented some cultural initiatives for the Jubilee and the number of pilgrims expected to come to Rome in 2025.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella explained that the city awaits more than 30 million faithful for an event of profound historical value.

Mayor Gualtieri said, “It will surely be a very large turnout as it has always been for the Jubilees. It stems from an ancient tradition that was instituted by Pope Boniface the Eighth in the 1300s, and since then, it has regularly welcomed and attracted millions of pilgrims who, for deeply spiritual reasons, come to Rome. The Jubilee of 2025 will be particularly significant because Pope Francis wanted to consider it the ‘Jubilee of Hope’ in a world that has seen a dramatic pandemic and is now experiencing the horrors of war.”

In addition to the many permanent infrastructural changes that the city is undergoing, Rome is already planning many logistical preparations for the Jubilee, with the aim of providing a pleasant experience to the pilgrims.

“We have strengthened logistical support points,” Gualtieri emphasized, “we will count on special corps for the emergency operations, we will have lots of volunteers, and we will also distribute water to the pilgrims. We are trying to organize everything so that we will always have a comfortable welcome at all events. A lot of attention will be paid to these events, and we wish everyone a beautiful Jubilee. I invite you all to come to Rome because this is going to be an extraordinary Jubilee, and we are waiting for you with open arms.”

Adapted by Jacob Stein