This Year, Christians and Jews Celebrate in Unison

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged "all people of all nations" to find courage during this Holy Year "to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions" plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa, and Asia. The pontiff's "Urbi et Orbi"—"To the City and the World"—address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, reports the AP. "I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,'' the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below.

The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God's mercy, which "unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge." Pilgrims were lined up on Christmas Day to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome. Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. "You feel so humble when you go through the door,'' said Blanca Martin, a pilgrim from San Diego. "It's almost like a release of emotions, you feel like now you are able to let go and put everything in the hands of God."

Hanukkah, Judaism's eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900. The calendar confluence has inspired some religious leaders to host interfaith gatherings. While Hanukkah is intended as an upbeat, celebratory holiday, rabbis note that it's taking place this year as wars rage in the Middle East and fears rise over widespread incidents of antisemitism. The holidays overlap infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not in sync with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on Dec. 25. The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005. (More Christmas stories.)