The Jubilee ceremony begins with Pope Francis opening the Holy Door at St Peter's Basilica. The ceremony includes prayers in Latin and Italian, symbolising forgiveness, as the Pope crosses the threshold to start the Holy Year.

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

After breaking open the special door on Christmas Eve, Francis stopped at the threshold to pray briefly in silence as the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica pealed out into the cool Rome night.