Pope Leo XIV has a busy schedule for his first Christmas as Pope. In addition to the celebrations proper to this liturgical season, there will also be events related to the conclusion of the Jubilee Year.
On December 24, the Pope will celebrate the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass in preparation for the birth of the Child Jesus. As always, it will take place in St. Peter’s Basilica, but with one difference: this year it will begin later. Pope Francis started Mass at 7:00 PM; Pope Leo will celebrate starting at 10:00 PM.
On December 25, another tradition will resume: public Mass with the Pope on Christmas morning. Pope Francis would celebrate it privately, and would then appear directly after for the Urbi et Orbi — the special blessing to the City of Rome and to the world. It is at this time the Pope usually delivers one of the most significant speeches of the year.
That same day, at 6:00 p.m., Pope Leo will go to St. Mary Major. There, he will close the first Holy Door of Rome’s major basilicas. He is also expected to pray by the tomb of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Following Christmas Day, the Pope will visit two other basilicas — St. John Lateran on December 27, and St. Paul Outside the Walls on December 28.
At the end of the year, on December 31, Pope Leo will preside over Vespers and the Te Deum in St. Peter’s Basilica. On the first day of 2026 he will celebrate a morning Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Most Holy Mother of God.
Events will continue into the new year. There will be a Mass for the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, followed by a historic moment: the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis had opened it, soon Pope Leo will bring it to a close.
Finally, on January 11, the Pope will follow the tradition begun by Pope Saint John Paul II: baptizing children in the Sistine Chapel in honor of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
CA/AM
