Christmas blessing at St Peter's follows launch of Jubilee Year in Rome.

Pope Francis on Christmas Day will impart his traditional blessing Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) at midday from the balcony above St Peter's Square at the Vatican.

This Christmas coincides with the start of the Jubilee Year 2025 which the pontiff launched on Christmas Eve by opening the Holy Door at 19.00, followed by 'Midnight Mass' at St Peter's.

Despite its name, the Christmas Eve Mass has not been celebrated at midnight at the Vatican since 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI moved it to 22.00.

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In 2013 the newly-elected Pope Francis moved the Midnight Mass to 21.30 before bringing it forward to 19.30 four years ago to allow the faithful to get home in time for the covid curfew then in force in Italy.

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The Urbi et Orbi blessing will be live-streamed on the YouTube channel of Vatican Media.

For details of the pope's 2024 liturgical programme see the Vatican website.

Photo credit: Riccardo De Luca - Update / Shutterstock.com.