In Conversation with Vatican Correspondent Christopher White :
How the Catholic Jubilee is defining the faith and face of Italy
The Vatican is a crossroads of all civilization
T
his year , the Eternal City has been granted a new lease of life . Under the clear winter skies of Italy ’ s capital , the city ’ s defining features have a distinct new complexion : ancient streets are no longer impeded by mounds of rubbish , the Trevi Fountain now sparkles as white as the waters running through it and , on Ponte Sant ’ Angelo , the brutalist pile-up of scaffolding has made way for the now perfectly polished Baroque statues . A group of tourists admire Lorenzo Bernini ’ s craftsmanship before fixing their cameras on the dome of St . Peter ’ s Basilica , which frames the rest of the city .
Source : Christopher White
The basilica is not just the focal attraction for millions of tourists but also , in 2025 , for millions of Catholic pilgrims . The Catholic Church is currently celebrating a Jubilee Year , a landmark event which comes around every 25 years – although the pope did call an extraordinary Jubilee Year in 2016 . In response to the expected influx of Catholic pilgrims , which could reach up to 30 million devotees , Rome has been transformed . In quintessentially Italian style , not every restoration work has been completed on time . But , as the famous saying goes , the renovation of Rome for the Catholic Jubilee was not finished in a day .
Christopher White is a Vatican analyst who reports for the National Catholic Reporter , a US publication he says was founded to “ hold the church accountable and to report without any ecclesial oversight .” White has also featured for the BBC , RTE , CNN and NBC and , more recently , has been reporting on Francis ’ s health after the Argentinian ’ s hospital admission in February .
White has seen Rome ’ s transformation first hand and his office is strategically close to the pontiff , even if it is more likely to spot a Francis-shaped bobblehead from a souvenir shop than the actual pope himself . But , working in the shadow of the Vatican , White has the perfect vantage point onto this year ’ s Jubilee .
“ Jubilees have their roots in the Old Testament tradition of forgiveness of sins and the special years recalled every so often ,” he explains . “[ They represent ] a time of renewal , forgiveness of debts and forgiveness of sins . In the modern era , [ the Jubilee ] has really focused on putting the spotlight on [ people living in poverty ] to use the Jubilee years as a time to rally the nations of the world to forgive foreign debts and to forgive
If you ’ re Italian , whether you ’ re practising or not , religion or Catholicism is in your DNA
foreign prisoners .”
On a political level , Rome ’ s much-maligned mayor Roberto Gualtieri has used the Jubilee to sustain his charm offensive . Gualtieri ’ s administration has overseen a worsening of services and cleanliness in the city , which reared its head last August in a public spat with Italian actor and director Carlo Verdone , who likened Rome ’ s current state to a “ hellish nightmare ” in an interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano . But White points out that , compared to the last planned Jubilee in 2000 , Gualtieri has been more successful at completing renovations .
“ There ’ s no question this is a big PR initiative , but the fact is these piazzas are opening up and work is being done . I ’ m somewhat sceptical that the city will have 30 million plus tourists coming here – since the beginning of the year it ’ s been very quiet , as it always is at this time of year . I ’ m also not sure how many people come with spiritual motivation rather than for tourism .”
It may seem surprising that a European capital city is giving so much attention to a religious celebration , but the relationship between Italy and the Catholic Church is unparalleled . A 2023 survey from the US thinktank Pew Research Center revealed that 80 % of Italians identify as Catholic , which inevitably means the Catholic Church has a decisive influence in Italy .
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