Amid security worries, millions of pilgrims are expected to descend on Rome for a Jubilee Year of major Catholic celebrations throughout 2025. Here are the highlights.

The White House announced that President Joe Biden will head to Italy early next month for a public meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City. During the trip he will also hold meetings with Italy's Prime Minister and President.

Over 35 million pilgrims are expected to visit Rome in 2025 seeking forgiveness of sins and a chance to see the pope.

He made the remarks a day after the start of the Roman Catholic Church’s Holy Year, known as a Jubilee, which takes place every quarter century. On Tuesday evening, Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica so that the first pilgrims could go through. Millions more are expected to follow over the year.

Pope Francis said the story of Jesus' birth as a poor carpenter's son should instil hope that all people can make an impact on the world, as the pontiff on Tuesday led the world's Roman Catholics into Christmas.

Christmas message, Pope Francis urged the world to “silence the sound of arms" and find reconciliation, “even (with) our enemies."

Pope Francis has told Vatican bureaucrats to stop speaking ill of one another, calling gossip "an evil that destroys social life."

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message has urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world,

Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, delivered the "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas message and blessing from the Vatican at noon local time.

The Pope on Tuesday celebrated the inauguration of the Jubilee Year by symbolically opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, noting that the Jubilee Year’s principal message is that of hope and forgiveness.

(Abdel Kareem Hana | AP) Palestinian women and girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, in December 2024. The Israel-Hamas war — including the international fallout — was named the top religion story of 2024.