Some 24 million people have so far visited the Vatican this year

Vatican departments have announced that the number of visitors and pilgrims who visited the Holy See by the end of August reached a record 24 million, with expectations that the number will rise to approximately 32 million pilgrims by the end of  2025.

These remarkable numbers coincide with the Holy Jubilee Year, which commemorates the 2025th anniversary of the birth of  Lord Jesus Christ. Our wish was that this jubilee would be celebrated in the birthplace of Lord Jesus Christ, namely Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and the Baptism Site. Yet, political circumstances have cast a violent shadow over various aspects, including tourism.

With the significant spike in the number of pilgrims going to Rome, we still continue to suffer locally due to the regional situations that affect tourism. The number of visitors to the Baptism Site this year has reached merely 56,000. We offer our prayers to God pleading to remove the obstacles that obviate the arrival of tourists and pilgrims to our Holy Land, so that tourism in all its forms, would become  once again a vital lifeline for the survival of society and a source of support for its institutions.

The  figures issued by the Vatican reflect a distinguished and historic year for the Church. Following the passing away of Pope Francis, who enriched the world with his kindness and humanity, Pope Leo XIV was elected who continued the busy agenda that was prepared earlier for the Jubilee celebrations, with the participation of the various shades of the Church's congregations, particularly young people for whom special days were dedicated. This month witnessed an exceptional event with the canonization of two young Italians, namely Pier Giorgio Frassati (died in 1925 at the age of 24) and Carlo Acutis (died in 2006 at just 15) to serve as inspiring models for young people to be emulated in living the holiness and embodying hope at the start of every new day.

The number of the visitors arriving in the Vatican was not affected by the absence of Pope Francis, as the Church continued its procession with new Pope Leo XIV, who is distinguished by his humble personality, perspicacity, and by his special love for the saint of fraternal Algeria, namely Saint Augustine, as not a single address he made was bereft of a quote by the saint, who is considered one of the greatest theologians and philosophers in history.

Reference is made to the thriving tourism situation in Italy, the Vatican, and other Italian cities, including Assisi, which hosted the "Jordan: The Dawn of Christianity" exhibition, organized by the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism, after being on display in the Vatican for two months. The exhibition remained in Assisi, the hometown of Saint Francis, for more than a month, while exuding Jordan's spiritual message to the world.

We rather look forward with hope to the future of tourism in our holy country, wishing His Excellency the minister, Dr. Imad Hijazin, and His Excellency Secretary-General Yazan Al-Khudair success in their efforts to promote tourism and give it the momentum we are proud of which we always strive to promote. This period in which they are shouldering the responsibility, constitutes a historic period of preparation to pave the way for declaring 2030 to be the year of the Jordanian tourism jubilee par excellence. In that year, the world will commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the baptism of Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of our blessed river. It is  an occasion that deserves careful preparation. Will a day in the coming years come when we mention a number that reflects the figure millions, similar to that of the Vatican's for the current jubilee? There is nothing impossible!

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