Spectators raise their hands and devices for their view of Pope Leo IXV during the papal audience in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
Rome was at peak tourism due to it being a Jubilee year. Jubilee started as a Jewish tradition for the reconciliation between God and man, but then it became a reconciliation through Jesus during the New Testament. The Jubilee indulgence grants the faithful a forgiveness of sins, and they are no longer bound to Purgatory after death. Purgatory is a Catholic belief that is where God decides whether the person will go to Heaven or Hell after death.
This indulgence happened for Jubilee pilgrims at the Holy Door based on the passage from John Chapter 10. There are five in Rome, and one of them is in Saint Peter’s Basilica. The Holy Door is assembled by the Pope on Christmas Eve of the previous year. The pilgrim would be forgiven of sins and granted a pass from Purgatory once they enter. Jesus is at the entrance once the pilgrim enters.
Mary holding Jesus after the cross in Saint Peter's Basilica on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
The Holy Doors at Saint Peter's Basilica on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
The Vatican Museums were the hardest to navigate, with at times I was shoulder to shoulder with people while I was trying to view the pagan and Christian art. Rome was also peaking in temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit so the heat only intensified as more people came through the museums.
The museums became less crowded when I visited places that people might overlook, such as the indigenous artifacts and the Pope’s automobile exhibits. The indigenous artifacts included pieces from North and South America, Africa, and Asia. Many of these artifacts were given as gifts to the Popes. Some of them were indigenous crucifixes. There was a classical rendering of Tecumseh, a Shawnee Native American, created by a German classical sculptor. Ferdinand Pettrich portrayed indigenous peoples in a way that did not depict them as savages, but rather as European sculptors would represent heroes and gods at that time.
Gifts given to the Pope by the indigenous peoples from Canada in the Vatican museums on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
Sculpture of Tecumsah dying along with other indigenous busts in the Vatican museums on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
The Papal audience in Saint Peter’s Square was not as difficult to get into as my group and I had originally thought. We did not have to pay for entry, but instead went through metal detectors and they had to take my metal water bottle. I could go anywhere in Saint Peter’s square I wanted after entering except for the crowds of people making it hard to navigate closer to the platform where the Pope would be sitting. There was not much shade in Saint Peter’s square but there was shade by the columns we went through to go through the metal detectors for entry which is where most of our group stayed.
I expected the Pope to come out the deck and say only some words and go back inside from what my professors told me. Pope Leo IXV came out by motorcade to greet the audience in the square instead. His security grabbed the children for the Pope to bless before giving them back to their parents in the audience. The audience pressed against the fences trying to get a good view of the newly elected Pope with their phones and cameras out.
Pope Leo IXV at the platform in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
The event was translated into different languages for pilgrims around the world. Pope Leo IXV reads from a sheet in Italian, English, Spanish, and more to speak to the audience. The Pope wanted to bless all artifacts the pilgrims brought and recognize the different countries pilgrims were from. The audience cheers when he says their country and their respective flags fly.
Urszula Soloarz holds the Polish flag in Saint Peter’s square during the papal audience on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Solarz is a student from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. Solarz traveled with her professor and classmates to see Pope Leo IXV.
The second Papal audience I attended was by accident. I wanted to climb the dome of Saint Peter’s Bascilica that morning, but I realized after speaking with Vatican security that it was closed for the Pope. That morning was for a Jubilee of sport audience. I decided I might try to see the Pope for the second time. I went through the metal detectors, and they took my water bottle again.
I was closer to the platform this time, and I was much earlier than last time, so I found a good spot to see the Pope come through with his motorcade. I waited for about 30 minutes until the ushers told everyone that the audience was going to be in the Basilica instead.
The entrance was blocked for some time as I waited in a crowd of people shoulder to shoulder. The ushers let us inside after they had the Basilica prepared, and some people started to run inside. I had to almost tiptoe inside through the tight gates and entryway into the Basilica because of the way the crowd shoved and pulled to get inside.
The Jubilee of Sport audience rushes to get inside for a spot to see the new Pope Leo IXV after the audience switched from Saint Peter's Square to the Basilica because of the heat on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
There were still half of the seats empty as I got inside, but I lost my great view I would have had of the Pope from the square. I strategically placed myself closest to the aisle where the Pope would come out to greet the audience.
Pope Leo IXV waves to the Jubilee of sport audience in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, June 11, 2025.
Pope Leo IXV speaks to the English-speaking Jubilee of Sport audience in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, June 11, 2025. He also spoke Italian, Spanish, and more to the foreign-speaking audience.
The Basilica was beautiful with golden ceilings and Renaissance paintings of Biblical figures all around the ceiling and walls. The altar where the Pope would sit looked like a throne covered in gold patterns around the pillars. Four golden angels were at the very top.
The Papal Alter in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, June 11, 2025.
The Jubilee audience was similar to the first audience I went to in the square. The Pope said similar things about blessing artifacts and recognizing places pilgrims traveled from. They also translated every message in English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, and more just like they did for the first papal audience outside.
Empty seats from the Jubilee of sport audience in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, June 11, 2025.
