Vatican hails "very significant" start to Jubilee Year.

More than half a million people have passed through the Holy Door at St Peter's in the first two weeks since Pope Francis launched the Vatican's Jubilee Year on Christmas Eve.

A total of 545,532 people from around the world filed along Via della Conciliazione and entered the Holy Door between 24 December and 7 January, the Vatican said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hailing it as "a very significant beginning", the Vatican's chief Jubilee organiser Archbishop Rino Fisichella said it was also "a sign of the great perception of safety and security that pilgrims experience in the city of Rome and around the four papal basilicas."

In addition to St Peter's, the faithful arriving in Rome can enter through holy doors at St Paul Outside the Walls, St Mary Major and St John Lateran for the duration of the Jubilee Year, an event that takes place every 25 years.

Passing through the holy doors offers pilgrims the chance of obtaining a plenary indulgence, defined by the Catholic Church as the remission of temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.

The Vatican said it expects "a steady increase in pilgrim turnout", with pilgrims encouraged to book their visit in advance via the official Jubilee website, due to the high demand.

In excess of 30 million people are expected to arrive in Rome during the holy year whose first major event is the Jubilee for Communication, scheduled on 24-26 January.