'Two-pope' Catholic Jubilee draws 33 million pilgrims to Rome

Vatican City: The 2025 Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations drew over 33 million pilgrims to Rome, the Vatican said Monday, as the last of the faithf...

Vatican City: The 2025 Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations drew over 33 million pilgrims to Rome, the Vatican said Monday, as the last of the faithful passed through the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Leo XIV will close the basilica's ornate bronze doors in a grand ceremony Tuesday, 12 months after they were opened by his predecessor Pope Francis, who died in April.

"The entire world came to Rome. Pilgrims arrived from 185 countries" for 35 major events, including a festival for young Catholics and the canonisation of the first internet saint, Archbishop Rino Fisichella told journalists.

The numbers showed the centuries-old institution was still "a dynamic church", he told a press conference.

It will also be remembered as a rare two-pope Jubilee. The last time a pope died during a "Holy Year" was in 1700.