Pope Francis dies during Jubilee, leaving Holy Door open in papal first

By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With his death April 21, Pope Francis marked yet another first in the history of the Catholic Church: he became the first pope to open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica without living to close it.

The pope opened the Holy Door Dec. 24, 2024, marking the beginning of the Holy Year 2025, a tradition normally celebrated in the church every 25 years as a time of spiritual renewal and pilgrimage. His death four months later means the Holy Door will be sealed by his successor – an unprecedented moment in the modern history of Jubilee celebrations.

Only once before had a Jubilee begun under one pope and concluded by another. In 1700, Pope Innocent XII, already gravely ill, gave his blessing for the start of the Jubilee he had declared in 1699 but was unable to preside at the opening of the Holy Door. He died in September 1700 and it fell to Pope Clement XI, elected later that year, to close the Holy Door and conclude the Jubilee.

Pope Francis pauses in prayer on the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 24, 2024, after he opened it and inaugurated the Holy Year 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

There have been other instances in which a Jubilee was proclaimed by one pontiff and carried out by another.

In 1389, Pope Urban VI declared the following year to be a holy year by changing the cycle of Jubilee celebrations to be observed every 33 years. His death that year meant the Holy Year 1390 was presided over by Pope Boniface IX.

A similar situation occurred when Pope Paul II proclaimed the Holy Year 1475 and laid out the requirement of visiting Rome’s four major basilicas, but he died before the Jubilee began and it was presided over by Pope Sixtus IV.

Pope Julius III presided over the Holy Year 1550 proclaimed by his predecessor, Pope Paul III, and Pope Pius VI presided over the Holy Year 1775 proclaimed by his predecessor Pope Clement XIV.

Yet Pope Francis became the only pope to personally open the Holy Door to inaugurate a holy year without closing it himself.

He previously opened and closed the Holy Door of the basilica during the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy he called in 2015. The pope was also the first to open a holy door outside the Vatican, opening the Holy Door of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Bangui, Central African Republic, that year.

In December 2024, he opened the Holy Door at the church in Rome’s Rebibbia prison complex as a sign of hope to incarcerated people.

A few days before Pope Francis was elected in March 2013, he told his fellow cardinals, “I have the impression that Jesus is locked inside the church and that he is knocking because he wants to get out!”
Among his last gestures as pope, he left the door to the world’s largest church wide open.

El Papa Francisco fallece durante el Jubileo y deja abierta la Puerta Santa en primicia papal

By Justin McLellan
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Con su muerte el 21 de abril, el papa Francisco marcó otra primicia en la historia de la Iglesia católica: se convirtió en el primer papa en abrir la Puerta Santa de la Basílica de San Pedro sin vivir para cerrarla.

El Papa abrió la Puerta Santa el 24 de diciembre de 2024, marcando el inicio del Año Santo 2025, una tradición que normalmente se celebra en la Iglesia cada 25 años como un tiempo de renovación espiritual y peregrinación. Su muerte, cuatro meses después, significa que la Puerta Santa será sellada por su sucesor, un momento sin precedentes en la historia moderna de las celebraciones jubilares.

Sólo una vez antes un Jubileo había comenzado bajo un Papa y concluido por otro. En 1700, el Papa Inocencio XII, ya gravemente enfermo, dio su bendición para el inicio del Jubileo que había declarado en 1699, pero no pudo presidir la apertura de la Puerta Santa. Murió en septiembre de 1700 y correspondió al Papa Clemente XI, elegido ese mismo año, cerrar la Puerta Santa y concluir el Jubileo.

Ha habido otros casos en los que un Pontífice proclamó un Jubileo y otro lo llevó a cabo.

En 1389, el Papa Urbano VI declaró que el año siguiente sería un año santo, cambiando el ciclo de celebraciones jubilares a observarse cada 33 años. Su muerte ese año hizo que el Año Santo de 1390 fuera presidido por el Papa Bonifacio IX.

Una situación similar se produjo cuando el Papa Pablo II proclamó el Año Santo 1475 y estableció el requisito de visitar las cuatro basílicas mayores de Roma, pero murió antes de que comenzara el Jubileo y éste fue presidido por el Papa Sixto IV.

El Papa Francisco abre de un empujón la Puerta Santa de la Basílica de San Pedro en el Vaticano el 24 de diciembre de 2024, inaugurando el Año Santo 2025. (Foto de CNS/Cristian Gennari, pool)

El Papa Julio III presidió el Año Santo 1550 proclamado por su predecesor, el Papa Pablo III, y el Papa Pío VI presidió el Año Santo 1775 proclamado por su predecesor el Papa Clemente XIV.

Sin embargo, el Papa Francisco se ha convertido en el único Papa que ha abierto personalmente la Puerta Santa para inaugurar un Año Santo sin cerrarla él mismo.

Anteriormente abrió y cerró la Puerta Santa de la basílica durante el Jubileo extraordinario de la Misericordia que convocó en 2015. El Papa también fue el primero en abrir una puerta santa fuera del Vaticano, al abrir ese año la Puerta Santa de la catedral de Notre-Dame de Bangui (República Centroafricana).

En diciembre de 2024, abrió la Puerta Santa de la iglesia del complejo penitenciario Rebibbia de Roma como signo de esperanza para las personas encarceladas.

Pocos días antes de que el Papa Francisco fuera elegido en marzo de 2013, dijo a sus compañeros cardenales: «Tengo la impresión de que Jesús está encerrado dentro de la iglesia y que llama a la puerta porque ¡quiere salir!»

Entre sus últimos gestos como Papa, dejó abierta de par en par la puerta de la mayor iglesia del mundo.

Christian joy is trusting in God in every situation, pope writes

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christian joy is for everyone, not just for a privileged few, Pope Francis wrote.
“Christian joy is reliance on God in every situation in life,” he said in a message to people taking part in the second synodal assembly of the Catholic Church in Italy.

The assembly, which is meeting at the Vatican March 31-April 3, is part of a synodal process the church in Italy began in 2021. About 1,000 people – including more than 440 lay men and women – were taking part, representing 219 of the 226 dioceses in the country.

“The church is not made up of majorities or minorities, but of the holy faithful people of God who walk in history, enlightened by the Word and by the Spirit,” the pope said in his text, which was read by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, during the opening session March 31.

“Christian joy is never exclusive, but always inclusive, it is for everyone. It takes place in the details of everyday life and in sharing: it is a joy with broad horizons, accompanying a welcoming style,” Pope Francis wrote.

Pope Francis prays with Italian bishops in the Vatican synod hall during the general assembly of the Italian bishops’ conference in this file photo from May 20, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

This joy is God’s gift, he wrote. However, “it is not an easy joy, it is not born of convenient solutions to problems, it does not avoid the cross, but springs from the certainty that the Lord never leaves us alone.”

It is a joy that the pope has experienced himself during his hospitalization, he added, “and now in this time of convalescence” as well.

The synodal assembly planned to discuss and vote on a series of concrete proposals and suggestions that emerged after a long process of listening and discerning, starting at the local church level. The bishops’ permanent council and the conference’s general assembly, which is meeting at the end of May, will finalize the proposals, which will be given to the local churches for their reception.

In his address to the assembly in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, Cardinal Zuppi said the outcome of their synodal journey will depend on their approach as “pilgrims of hope,” who set out alongside others with humble backpacks and not set apart and above others, just shining “beacons” for others to follow.
The hope is to put the Gospel back into everyday life and discourse, and to build “open communities, full of God and humanity,” he said.

Pope Francis congratulates CRS on Rice Bowl’s 50th anniversary

(OSV News) – Pope Francis congratulated Catholic Relief Services on the 50th anniversary of CRS Rice Bowl, the Catholic relief agency’s annual Lenten program dedicated to global hunger and poverty alleviation efforts.

CRS, the official international relief and development agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S., is marking the 50th anniversary of its Rice Bowl program this Lent, which has raised more than $350 million to support domestic and overseas poverty relief efforts. The organization has described that effort – with its iconic cardboard donation box – as more important than ever in light of a freeze on much U.S. foreign aid.

“I was pleased to learn that the Rice Bowl program of Catholic Relief Services is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary,” Pope Francis wrote in a letter the group shared with media March 14. “On this auspicious occasion, I express my good wishes to all involved in this noble initiative as well as my gratitude for the faithful in the United States of America, who, through this service, assist the poorest and most vulnerable at home and abroad.”

Pope Francis said that for five decades, during “the holy season of Lent, when the Church invites us to pray, fast, and give alms in preparation for the Easter celebrations,” the Rice Bowl program “has offered a concrete way for Catholics to give alms as they seek to put their faith into action.”

“When caring for our neighbor, we must always remember that charity is to be given without qualifications or limits, as Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Good Samaritan,” he said, referring to the story in Luke’s Gospel. “In doing so, we reflect the closeness, compassion, and tender love of God who cares for all of his children in the one human family.”

CRS’ Rice Bowl initiative combines the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving to provide humanitarian aid, spiritual renewal and increased solidarity with those in need.
The funds – 25% of which help local diocesan outreaches, with 75% benefiting CRS programs abroad – support a mission that is “critical to millions,” said Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia, CRS board chair, in a March 5 statement from the organization.

The iconic CRS Rice Bowl cardboard box is pictured in this file photo. Pope Francis congratulated Catholic Relief Services on the 50th anniversary of the Lenten initiative to support its overseas charitable work in the name of the Catholic Church in the U.S. (OSV News photo/Karen Kasmauski, CRS)

The campaign, launched in 1975 by Msgr. Robert Coll as a local effort in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, became a national initiative through its introduction at the Philadelphia-based 41st International Eucharistic Congress in 1976, and its subsequent adoption by the U.S. bishops through CRS.

In 2023, some 733 million people worldwide faced hunger, according to the United Nations’ 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. Hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition have devastating physical and psychosocial consequences, including insufficient height and weight in children.
“It is my hope therefore that the Rice Bowl program and other initiatives offered by Catholic Relief Services will continue to serve as examples of how to fulfill the Gospel’s command to love and serve our neighbor in a communal way,” Pope Francis said. “With these sentiments, I renew my best wishes as you celebrate this anniversary, and upon all who support the Rice Bowl program, I invoke Almighty God’s blessings of wisdom, hope and strength.”

(NOTES: More information about the program can be found at crsricebowl.org/give.)

Pope prays for wounded families, says forgiveness renews hope, healing

A screengrab from Pope Francis’ video message, released March 4, 2025, highlights his prayer intention for March: “For families in crisis.” (CNS screengrab/Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network)

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The best medicine to heal the pain of a wounded family is forgiveness, Pope Francis said.

“Forgiveness always renews the family, making it look forward with hope,” the pope said in a video message to present his prayer intention for the month of March: “For families in crisis.”

The video, which was recorded weeks before his hospitalization Feb. 14 and released March 4, did not include the usual footage of Pope Francis at his desk reading the message but only used his voice for the narration.

It did not seem “respectful” or appropriate to be publishing a previously recorded video of him while he was recovering at the hospital, an official at the prayer network told Catholic News Service March 4. No images of the pope taken after he was hospitalized have been released.

The final frame of the video says, “The video was recorded a few weeks ago. Let us join in prayer with Pope Francis at clicktopray.org.”

In the message, Pope Francis said, “We all dream about a beautiful, perfect family. But there’s no such thing as a perfect family. Every family has its own problems, as well as its tremendous joys.”

“Every member of the family is important because each member is different than the others, each person is unique. But these differences can also cause conflict and painful wounds,” he said.

The best medicine to help heal the pain of those wounds, he said, is forgiveness. “Forgiveness means giving another chance. God does this with us all the time. God’s patience is infinite. He forgives us, lifts us up, gives us a new start.”

Even if there is no possibility of there being a fairytale ending of “happily ever after,” he said, “God’s grace gives us the strength to forgive, and it brings peace, because it frees us from sadness, and, above all, from resentment.”

“Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences,” he said.

(The video can be found in English and other languages at www.thepopevideo.org.)

Despite ‘critical’ condition, pope is working from hospital room

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a sign affirming that Pope Francis has been able to conduct work while in the hospital, the Vatican said the pope had met with the top officials of the Vatican Secretariat of State and had signed several decrees in sainthood causes.

The Vatican press office said Feb. 25 that the pope had signed the decrees the previous day during a meeting at Rome’s Gemelli hospital with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute secretary of state.

The announcement followed a typically brief morning update on the health of the 88-year-old pope, which said, “The pope rested well, all night.”

Pope Francis, diagnosed with double pneumonia, has been in the hospital since Feb. 14.

A medical bulletin published by the Vatican late Feb. 24, said Pope Francis’ condition had shown a slight improvement during the day, but his condition remained critical. He had not had another “asthmatic respiratory crisis,” so doctors were able to reduce the oxygen he is receiving by nasal cannula.

Hours after visiting Pope Francis in the hospital, Cardinal Parolin led the recitation of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square, praying for the pope and his health. Some two dozen cardinals joined the nighttime prayer, along with officials of the Roman Curia and hundreds of Catholics from Rome and around the world.

The 9 p.m. rosary will be a fixed appointment, the Vatican said. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, was scheduled to lead the prayer Feb. 25.

Presentation in the temple shows how God lives among us, pope says

By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The presentation of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem shows that God’s closeness to humanity is not confined to a place of worship but is manifested in his living among people, Pope Francis said.

“God is present in the midst of his people, not because he dwells within four walls, but because he lives as a man among humanity,” the pope said before praying the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 2. “ This is the novelty of Jesus.”

Pope Francis gives a thumbs up to visitors in St. Peter’s Square gathered to pray the the Angelus at the Vatican Feb. 2, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The day’s Gospel reading from St. Luke recounted how Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple 40 days after his birth, following Jewish tradition. The “heartfelt voices” of Simeon and Anna, who had long awaited the messiah, “resound among the ancient stones of the temple, announcing the fulfillment of Israel’s expectations,” the pope said.

Simeon described Jesus in “three beautiful ways,” the pope said. “Jesus is salvation, Jesus is light; Jesus is a sign of contradiction.”

“Like the sun that rises over the world, this child will redeem it from the darkness of evil, pain and death,” Pope Francis said. “How much we need light, this light, even today!”

Simeon then prophesied that Jesus will be “a sign that will be contradicted” so that “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

“Jesus reveals the criterion for judging all of history and each of our lives,” Pope Francis explained. “And what is this criterion? It is love: those who love, live; those who hate, die.”

The pope urged Christians to reflect on whether they, too, are longing for God: “Do I wish to see the face of the Lord? Do I await the manifestation of his plan of salvation?”

After praying the Angelus, the pope called for people to say “no” to war.

“It destroys everything, it destroys life and induces us to disregard it,” he said; “let us not forget that war is always a defeat.”

Pope Francis renewed his Jubilee year appeal for Christian government leaders “to do their utmost in the negotiations to bring all the ongoing conflicts to an end.”

“Let us pray for peace in tormented Ukraine, in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and North Kivu,” he said, referring to the region in Congo where intense fighting flared up in late January, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people.

Holy Year pilgrimage is chance to begin again, pope says

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A holy year is an opportunity to start fresh with one’s relationship with God and with other people, Pope Francis told thousands of pilgrims.

The Holy Year 2025 theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” is a reminder that hope “is not a habit or a character trait – that you either have or you don’t – but a strength to be asked for. That is why we make ourselves pilgrims: We come to ask for a gift, to start again on life’s journey,” the pope said Jan. 11.

Meeting more than 7,000 pilgrims who filled the Vatican audience hall or pressed against crowd-control barriers outside, Pope Francis began a series of Saturday general audiences designed, as he said, to “welcome and embrace all those who are coming from all over the world in search of a new beginning.”
Throughout the audience, the pope had the crowd repeat “ricominciare,” Italian for “begin again.”

The audience was held the day before the feast of the Baptism of the Lord when the church commemorates Jesus going down to the Jordan River and joining the crowds who responded to St. John the Baptist’s call for conversion.

Pope Francis greets visitors at the conclusion of the first of his Saturday general audiences for the Holy Year in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Jan. 11, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

A summary of the pope’s talk, read to the pilgrims in English, said that John the Baptist’s “message in calling for conversion was one of hope in the advent of the Messiah, a hope fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and his invitation to welcome the kingdom of God.”

“Like the crowds that flocked to the waters of the Jordan, may all who pass through the Holy Door this year receive the grace of interior renewal, openness to the dawn of God’s kingdom and its summons to conversion, fraternal love and concern for the least of our brothers and sisters,” the pope’s message to English-speakers said.

On a Holy Year pilgrimage and, more generally, on the journey of life, “we, too, bring many questions,” the pope told the pilgrims, but Jesus replies by pointing to a “new path, the path of the Beatitudes,” which proclaims how blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who struggle for justice and those who work for peace.

“Hope for our common home – this Earth of ours, so abused and wounded – and the hope for all human beings resides in the difference of God. His greatness is different,” the pope said. Jesus demonstrated how greatness comes not from domination, but from learning “to serve, to love fraternally, to acknowledge ourselves as small. And to see the least, to listen to them and to be their voice.”

Christ’s birth brings light to a troubled world, pope says

By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a troubled world, the birth of Christ reveals God’s unwavering determination to draw all people to himself and illuminate even the darkest corners, Pope Francis said.

Despite being born into a world “where there is a great need for light, for hope and a need for peace, a world where people at times create situations so complicated that it seems impossible to get out of them,” Jesus, the pope said, opens windows of light “even in the darkest nights of humanity.”

“God never stops, he finds a thousand ways to reach everyone, each and every one of us, wherever we are, without calculation and without conditions,” he said before praying the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square Jan 5.

Pope Francis said that Christmas celebrates how Jesus, through his humble birth, “overcomes so many walls and so many divisions.”

“He confronts the closed minds and hearts of the ‘great’ of his time, who are concerned more with defending power than seeking the Lord,” he said.

Born to parents “without means,” Jesus offers himself to the shepherds who were in the fields with their sheep, “men whose hearts are marked by the harshness of life and the disdain of society,” the pope said, as well as to the Magi who find Jesus “in great poverty.”

Pope Francis greets visitors in St. Peter’s Square gathered to pray the the Angelus Jan. 5, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis said Christians should be consoled and encouraged by the context of Jesus’ birth: “It seems impossible to get out of so many situations, but today the word of God tells us that it is not.”

He said that Christians are called to “to imitate the God of love, opening up glimmers of light wherever we can, with whomever we meet, in any context: family, social, international.”

God “invites us to not be afraid of taking the first step,” the pope said. “This is the Lord’s invitation today: let us not fear taking the first step; it takes courage to do it but let us not be afraid.”
Pope Francis said that opening “wide bright windows of closeness to those who are suffering, of forgiveness, of compassion and reconciliation” are the “many first steps we must take to make the path clearer, safer and possible for all.”

Particularly during the current Holy Year, he said, God invites Christians to be messengers of hope by saying “yes” to life in simple and concrete ways “with choices that bring life.”

After praying the Angelus, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan. He called on the international community to “act firmly so that humanitarian law is respected in conflicts.”

“No more striking schools, hospitals; no more hitting workplaces,” he said. “Let us not forget that war is always a defeat, always!”

Dios no rechaza ni olvida a nadie, dice el Papa en la fiesta de Epifanía

By Carol Glatz
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Así como la estrella sobre Belén llamó y acogió a todos para que encontraran a Jesús recién nacido, hoy Dios llama a los fieles a acoger a todos, creando espacios seguros y abiertos para encontrar calor y cobijo, dijo el Papa Francisco.

La estrella está en el cielo no para permanecer lejana e inalcanzable, dijo, “sino para que su luz sea visible a todos, para que llegue a cada casa y rompa todas las barreras, llevando esperanza hasta los rincones más remotos y olvidados del planeta”, afirmó.

“Está en el cielo para decir a todos, con su luz generosa, que Dios no se niega a nadie y no olvida a nadie”, dijo el Papa el 6 de enero, al celebrar la Misa de la fiesta de la Epifanía en la Basílica de San Pedro.
“Dios no se revela a círculos exclusivos o a unos pocos privilegiados, Dios ofrece su compañía y su guía a quien lo busca con corazón sincero”, dijo en su homilía. “Dios busca a todos, siempre”.

“Y cuánto bien nos hace hoy meditar sobre esto, en un tiempo donde las personas y las naciones, aunque dotadas de medios de comunicación cada vez más poderosos, parecen estar menos dispuestas a entenderse, aceptarse y encontrarse en su diversidad”, afirmó.

Por eso, muchos belenes representan a los Magos “con características que abarcan todas las edades y todas las razas” para caracterizar a las muchas personas diferentes que hay en la tierra, dijo el Papa Francisco.

El Papa Francisco pronuncia su homilía durante la Misa en la fiesta de la Epifanía en la Basílica de San Pedro en el Vaticano el 6 de enero de 2025. (Foto CNS/Lola Gomez)

Dios “nos llama a poner fin a cualquier forma de preferencia, marginación o rechazo de las personas; y a promover entre nosotros y en los ambientes en que vivimos, una fuerte cultura de la acogida en la que los cerrojos del miedo y del rechazo sean reemplazados por los espacios abiertos del encuentro, de la integración y del compartir: lugares seguros, donde todos puedan encontrar calor y refugio”, dijo.

Dios no rechaza ni olvida a nadie porque “es un Padre cuya alegría más grande es ver a sus hijos que vuelven a casa”, dijo. “Verlos tender puentes, allanar senderos, buscar a los perdidos y cargar sobre sus hombros a los que tienen dificultades para caminar. Para que nadie quede fuera y todos participen en la alegría de su casa”.

“La estrella nos habla del sueño de Dios: que toda la humanidad, en la riqueza de sus diferencias, llegue a formar una sola familia y viva unida en la prosperidad y la paz”, dijo.

La estrella de Belén es la luz del amor de Dios, dijo, y “es la única luz que nos hará felices”.

Esta luz del amor de Dios “con el que también nosotros estamos llamados a entregarnos mutuamente, convirtiéndonos con su ayuda en un signo recíproco de esperanza, incluso en las noches oscuras de la vida”, afirmó.

“Que el Señor nos transforme así en luces que guíen a Él”, dijo.

Hablando del actual Año Santo y de la práctica jubilar de peregrinar, el Papa dijo: “a luz de la estrella nos invita a realizar un viaje interior que, como escribía Juan Pablo II (para el Gran Jubileo del Año 2000), libere nuestro corazón de todo lo que no es caridad, para ‘encontrar plenamente a Cristo, confesando nuestra fe en él y recibiendo la abundancia de su misericordia’”.

Mientras el Papa Francisco y miles de personas asistían a la Misa en la Basílica de San Pedro, otros miles se alineaban en el bulevar principal que conduce a la Plaza de San Pedro para la tradicional y folclórica celebración de la Epifanía. Bandas de música y personas vestidas con trajes renacentistas desfilaron por la calle detrás de los Reyes Magos a caballo.

Antes de rezar el Ángelus a mediodía en la plaza, el Papa dijo: “Pidamos a la Virgen María que nos ayude para que, imitando a los pastores y a los Reyes Magos, seamos capaces de reconocer a Jesús cerca de nosotros, en la Eucaristía, en los pobres, en los abandonados, en nuestros hermanos y hermanas”, dijo.