Holy Year or holy mess, Vatican and Rome begin dash to 2025 Jubilee with papal bull, construction

The Vatican has crossed a key milestone in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. Pope Francis is presiding over a ceremony Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica for the formal reading of the papal bull. The event also kicks off the final seven-month dash of preparations and public works projects to be completed by Dec. 24, when Francis opens the basilica’s Holy Door and formally inaugurates the Jubilee. In the papal bull, Francis announces that he will also open a Holy Door in a prison, to give prisoners a sense of hope.