Ahead of the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope in 2025, the Dicastery for Evangelization is hosting various events, including concerts and exhibitions.

In a press conference, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-prefect of the Dicastery, outlined the itinerary for some of the upcoming events.

A series of concerts, starting on Nov. 3, will begin the countdown to the Jubilee. At 6 p.m. at the Conciliazione Auditorium, the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia will perform Dmitrij Dmiitrievič Šostakovič’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor Op. 7.

The curator of concerts and exhibitions for the program, “Jubilee is Culture”, Dr. Davide Mambriani, described this concert as important. He says because the Academy “has a particular relationship with the Holy See and the papacy as it was founded in 1585 when Pope Sixtus V published the bull ‘Ratione congruit’, establishing the Congregation of Musicians.”

Another major event ahead of the Jubilee is the exhibition of various rare icons from the Vatican Museums. A set of 18 different icons were chosen from all around Eastern Europe, including Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Macedonia. Archbishop Fisichella says this exhibition is the “fruit of two years of working with experts.”

Gathering all these icons together is an expression of peace and fraternity, says Vatican Museums director, Barbara Jatta, as it shows “we are all bearers of the same message.” The icons will be on display in the Church of St. Agnes from Dec. 14 to Feb. 16.

Christianity in art

For the first time, the painting, “White Crucifixion”, will be on display in Rome on loan from The Art Institute of Chicago in the United States. It is the first in a series of works by Marc Chagall that depict Jesus as a Jewish martyr and underscore the persecution of Jews in the 1930s.

The exhibit will be open to the public from Nov. 27 until Jan. 27, 2025 at the new Museo del Corso – Polo museale. Admission is free every day from 10am to 8pm.

A third exhibition will be the Vatican’s annual 100 Nativity Scenes to be displayed under one side of Bernini’s colonnade in St. Peter’s Square. Each year, one region or city is chosen to be the partner.

This eigth edition will be dedicated to Rome, Archbishop Fisichella announced. The nativities will be oepn from Dec. 8 until Jan. 6, 2025.

Holy See Pavilion in Expo 2025

The Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization also announced the Holy See’s participation in the World Expo in Osaka, Japan next year.

The Vatican will be part of Italy’s pavillion and will feature the only Caravaggio preserved in the Vatican Museums: the Deposition of Christ.

Luce — the Vatican's mascot for the event — ties both the Jubilee and the Expo together. She is a pilgrim doll made in the pop culture style and carries many of the symbols of a pilgrim: a missionary cross, staff and boots dirty from walking.

The pavillion’s theme coincides with that of the Jubilee: “La bellezza porta speranza” or “Beauty brings hope.”

Archbishop Fisichella say the word “porta” has a double meaning in this phrase. First, beause it is “dynamic action that highlights access to hope” and secondly, “porta” references the Holy Door to be open “to anyone looking for peace and reconciliation.”

This article was first published in Vatican News.

Kielce Gussie is a writer for Vatican News.