Pope Leo XIV closes 2025 Holy Year with critique of consumerism and xenophobia

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today's consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition from one American pontiff to another.

With cardinals and diplomats looking on, Leo kneeled down in prayer on the stone floor at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. He then stood up and pulled the two doors shut, symbolically concluding the rarest of Jubilees: one that was opened by a feeble Pope Francis in December 2024, continued during his funeral and the conclave, and then was closed by Francis' successor a year later.

Only once before, in 1700, has a Holy Year been opened by one pope and closed by another.

Tuesday's ceremony, at the start of Mass celebrating the feast of Epiphany, capped a dizzying year of special audiences, Masses and meetings that dominated Leo’s first months as pontiff and in many ways put his own agenda on hold.

As if to signal his pontificate now can begin in earnest, Leo has summoned the world’s cardinals to the Vatican for two days of meetings starting Wednesday to discuss governing the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. On the agenda is the issue of the liturgy, suggesting Leo is diving head-first into the divisions within the church over the celebration of the old Latin Mass.

In his homily Tuesday, Leo said the Jubilee year had invited all Christians to reflect on the Biblical teachings to welcome the stranger and resist “the flattery and seduction of those in power.”

“Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything,” he said. “Let us ask ourselves: has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a product and human beings to consumers? After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner, and fellow travelers in those who are different?”

He echoed the theme in a special Epiphany prayer delivered from the basilica loggia to a rain-soaked piazza below. As thousands of people huddled under colorful umbrellas and ponchos, Leo recalled that traditionally Jubilees have included appeals for peace and “a redistribution of the land and its resources” to those in need.

“In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace,” he said.

For the Vatican, a Holy Year is a centuries-old tradition of the faithful making pilgrimages to Rome every 25 years to visit the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul and receive indulgences for the forgiveness of their sins if they pass through the Holy Door.

For Rome, it’s a chance to take advantage of public funds, in this case some 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion), to carry out long-delayed projects to lift the city out of years of neglect and bring it up to modern, European standards.

The Vatican on Monday claimed 33,475,369 pilgrims had participated in the Jubilee, though organizer Archbishop Rino Fisichella acknowledged the number was only a rough estimate and could include double counting. At a press conference, neither he nor Italian officials provided a breakdown between Holy Year pilgrims and Rome’s overall tourist figures for the same period.

Rome’s relationship with Jubilees dates to 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII inaugurated the first Holy Year in what historians say marked the definitive designation of Rome as the center of Christianity. Even then, the number of pilgrims was so significant that Dante referred to them in his “Inferno.”

Massive public works projects have long accompanied Holy Years, including the creation of the Sistine Chapel (commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV for the Jubilee of 1475) and the big Vatican garage (for the 2000 Jubilee under St. John Paul II).

Some works have been controversial, such as the construction of Via della Conciliazione, the broad boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square. An entire neighborhood was razed to make it for the 1950 Jubilee.

The main public works project for the 2025 Jubilee was an extension of that boulevard: A pedestrian piazza along the Tiber linking Via della Conciliazione to the nearby Castel St. Angelo, with the major road that had separated them diverted to an underground tunnel.

Leo has already announced that the next Jubilee will be in 2033, to commemorate what Christians believe was the A.D. 33 death and resurrection of Christ.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

FILE - Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica to mark the start of the Catholic Jubilee Year, at the Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024. (Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP, file)

Members of the clergy arrive ahead of Pope Leo XIV for the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

Members of the clergy arrive ahead of Pope Leo XIV for the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

Pope Leo XIV closes St. Peter's Basilica Holy Door to end the 2025 ordinary Jubilee year, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Yara Nardi/Pool photo via AP)

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — The World Cup glitters as a new objective for Congo after its elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Algeria substitute Adil Boulbina’s last-gasp extra-time rocket ended Congo’s Africa Cup hopes in the last 16 on Tuesday, but the Leopards’ attention has quickly switched to a bigger prize.

“We must thoroughly analyze what didn’t work because some things didn’t work,” Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said. “And immediately focus on a very, very important objective that awaits us in March.”

Congo can clinch one of the last qualification places for the World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States with a win over New Caledonia or Jamaica in a playoff in Mexico on March 31.

“It’s a beautiful competition,” Congo captain Chancel Mbemba said of the Africa Cup. “But we still have a last competition, a final game, if God wants it.”

Mbemba knows all about last-gasp winners as it was his stoppage-time goal that helped defeat Cameroon 1-0 in the African World Cup playoff semifinal.

The Leopards then defeated Nigeria in a penalty shootout – opposition coach Éric Chelle claimed “some voodoo” at work – to advance to the intercontinental playoffs. Mbemba again sealed the win.

Congo has developed into one of the continent’s strongest sides in recent years. It finished second behind unbeaten Senegal in its World Cup qualifying group.

Supported by a living statue of slain independence hero Patrice Lumumba at the Africa Cup, Congo started with a win over Benin, drew with 2021 winner Senegal, then defeated Botswana 3-0 to reach the last 16.

Congo reached the semifinals at the last edition in Ivory Coast, where the players wore black armbands to highlight the armed conflict in the east of the country. Mbemba and forward Cédric Bakambu have also used social media to bring attention to the fighting.

The Congo team’s on-field successes have helped keep international attention on the central African country, and consequently on the humanitarian crisis. World Cup qualification could bring more exposure.

The team has benefitted from the Congolese diaspora across Europe. The 21-year-old Noah Sadiki, born in Brussels, could have played for Belgium but he opted to represent the country of his parents.

“It’s a personal choice,” Sadiki told reporters last week. “I wouldn’t force anyone to choose Congo. I made that decision of my own free will. There’s a new generation that wants to help the people of the country.”

Belgian-born goalkeeper Matthieu Epolo (20) and midfielder Mario Stroeykens (21) also chose Congo.

Experienced French coach Desabre has moulded a committed side that’s proving very hard to beat. Only wayward finishing let the team down against Algeria.

Desabre, who has been in charge since 2022, said stability was key to the team’s development, being allowed the time to put changes in place, for bonds between the players and technical staff to grow, and to recover from setbacks.

“I’m very optimistic for Congolese football because we haven’t yet fully exploited the potential for growth in the academies, the local league, all this local talent that will bring even more strength to Congo in the years to come,” Desabre said before the Algeria game.

The coach said Congo was still behind the likes of Senegal and Cameroon, where players learn vital skills in academies before going on to play in the stronger European leagues.

“I’m very optimistic because there’s still this lever that will become active in Congo and that will make the team even stronger in the years to come,” Desabre said.

But, first, there’s a World Cup ticket up for grabs.

“Every one of us will return, we’ll work. We’ll ask God to keep every player fit. And – if God wants it – in the last match, everything is possible,” Mbemba said.

AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations

DR Congo's Michel-Ange Balikwisha, foreground, reacts as Algeria players celebrate their side's first goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Algeria's Himad Abdelli, bottom, stops DR Congo's Theo Bongonda during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, a DR Congo fan impersonating late Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba poses before the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

DR Congo's Chancel Mbemba, left, and Algeria's Hicham Boudaoui react during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

A supporter of Congo cheers for his national team before the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)