Pope Leo, closing Catholic Holy Year, urges kindness to foreigners

Pope Leo closed the Catholic Church's Holy Year on Tuesday by sealing shut the special "Holy Door" in St. Peter's Basilica and urging Christians worldwide to help those in need and treat foreigners with kindness.

Leo, who has made care for immigrants a central theme of his early papacy, said at a Vatican ceremony that the record 33.5 million pilgrims who visited Rome during the Holy Year should have learned not to treat humans as mere "products."

"Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything," said the pope. "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?"

Holy years, or jubilees, typically occur every 25 years and are considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Pilgrims to Rome can enter special "Holy Doors" at four Rome basilicas, and can attend papal audiences throughout the year.

At 9:41 a.m. (0841 GMT) on Tuesday, Leo, dressed in gold-trimmed robes, pulled shut the special bronze door at St. Peter's, officially ending the year.



Reuters