Leo XIV closed the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica, and referred to the multitudes of pilgrims who passed through it as today's new Magi. Of the 33 million who arrived in Rome, 7.69 per cent came from Asia, with China as the eighth country in terms of numbers. God will continue “to amaze us,” especially “if our communities are homes “. If they “resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn.”

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica, which Pope Francis first passed through in a wheelchair on Christmas night 2024, was closed this morning by his successor, Leo XIV. On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the pontiff closed the doors of the symbol that has accompanied the Jubilee of Hope throughout 2025.

At a press conference held yesterday at the Vatican, it was announced that some 33 million pilgrims from around the world passed through the Door during the Holy Year.

Those who came to Rome from Asia represent 7.69 per cent of the total, with China ranking eighth among countries of origin (2.79 per cent of the total), followed by the Philippines (0.9 per cent), Indonesia (0.83 per cent), and Taiwan (0.54 per cent), also among the top 25 countries.

It was precisely from these multitudes that Pope Leo drew inspiration for his reflection in the homily of the closing Mass of the Jubilee.

“Who were these men and women, and what motivated them?” asked the pontiff. “At the end of this Jubilee year, the spiritual searching of our contemporaries, much richer than perhaps we can comprehend, invites us to earnest reflection. Millions of them crossed the threshold of the Church. What did they find? What was in their hearts, their questions, their feelings?”

For Leo, “the Magi still exist today. They are the people who sense the need to go out and search, accepting the risks associated with their journey, especially in a troubled world like ours that may be unpleasant and dangerous in many ways.”

The pontiff went on to say that the Gospel asks the Church “not to be afraid of this phenomenon, but to appreciate it, and orient it toward God who sustains us.” Likewise, as the Jubilee ends, he called on the faithful to ask themselves: “is there life in our Church? Is there space for something new to be born? Do we love and proclaim a God who sets us on a journey?”

This message is also for the world and the Herods who even today are willing to do anything to safeguard their thrones.

“The Jubilee reminds us that we can start anew, indeed, that we are still at the beginning and that the Lord wants his presence to grow among us as God-with-us.”

Indeed, “God challenges the existing order, for he has plans that inspire his prophets even today. God is determined to rescue us from both old and new forms of slavery. He involves young and old, poor and rich, men and women, saints and sinners in his works of mercy, and in the wonders of his justice. Although the Lord does so quietly, he already makes his Kingdom sprout forth everywhere in the world.

“How many epiphanies we have been given and how many more could be given to us!” noted the pontiff. They must be protected against the “many conflicts by which men resist and even damage the new things that God has in store for everyone”.

“Loving and seeking peace,” he added, “means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby.” To this end, he warns against a “distorted economy [that] tries to profit from everything,” that turns “human yearnings of seeking, traveling and beginning again into a mere business.”

The pontiff also urges the Church to engage in some self-examination: “has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a product and human beings to consumers? 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, and fellow travelers in those who are different?”

Epiphany shows the path of giving. The mystery of God “does not occur in a prestigious location, but in humble place.” Instead, “The faithfulness of God continues to amaze us,” the pope said.

“If we do not reduce our churches to monuments, if our communities are homes, if we stand united and resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn.

“Mary, Star of the Morning, will always walk before us! In her Son we will contemplate and serve an extraordinary humanity, transformed not by the delusions of the all-powerful, but by God who became flesh out of love.”

At midday, appearing in the Loggia of Blessings for the Angelus prayer on the solemnity of the Epiphany, Leo also spoke about the meaning of the gifts that the Magi brought.

“We do not know anything about the possessions of the Magi,” he said. They “came from the East, but their departure, their risk-taking and their gifts themselves suggest that everything, truly everything that we are and possess needs to be offered to Jesus, who is our inestimable treasure.”

“[T]he Jubilee has reminded us of the justice founded on gratuitousness, of the original jubilee prescriptions, which included a call for the integration of peaceful living, a redistribution of the land and its resources, and a restoration of ‘what one has’ and ‘what one is’ to the designs of God, which are greater than ours.”

“[T]he hope that we proclaim must be grounded in reality, for Jesus came down from heaven in order to create a new story here below. In the gifts of the Magi, then, we see what each one of us can share, what we can no longer keep for ourselves but are to give to others, so that the presence of Jesus can grow in our midst.”

Finally, “May his Kingdom grow, may his words come to fulfillment in us, may strangers and enemies become brothers and sisters. In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace. As weavers of hope, let us journey together towards the future by another road”.

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