New renovations and AI-powered digital tours offer visitors a chance to see the historic site ahead of the 2025 Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis will celebrate the Vatican's traditional Christmas Eve midnight mass in a newly restored St. Peter's Basilica. It's one of a series of projects in Rome as the city prepares to usher in the Catholic Jubilee.

In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, launching what he called a "Jubilee of Hope." As the doors opened, the bells of the basilica began to peal. After the reading of a brief passage from the Gospel of John in which Jesus describes

On his wheelchair, Pope Francis began the celebration of Christmas by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, kicking off the 2025 Holy Year. “The steps we now take are the steps of the whole church,” the pope said.

Chris Livesay visited St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to see the newly restored historical features. These features are now fully visible for the first time in generations as part of major preservation efforts in Rome.

Pilgrims are lining up to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as Christmas marks the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration